Founded as a 20‐bed hospital for children in 1869, Boston Children's today is a 404‐bed comprehensive center for pediatric and adolescent health care. The hospital has been consistently ranked as the #1 Children's Hospital in the United States for the past 20 years, including again most recently in the 2017‐18 U.S. News & World Report “Best Children's Hospitals” rankings (https://www.usnews.com/info/blogs/press-room/articles/2017-06-27/us-news-announces-the-2017-2018-best-childrens-hospitals). As one of the largest pediatric medical centers in the United States, Boston Children's offers a complete range of health care services for children from birth through 21 years of age. (Our services can begin interventions at 15 weeks gestation and in some situations we also treat adults.) We have approximately 25 000 inpatient admissions each year and our 200+ specialized clinical programs schedule 557 000 visits annually. Last year, the hospital performed more than 26 500 surgical procedures and 214 000 radiological examinations.
Boston Children's is home to the world's largest research enterprise based at a pediatric hospital. More than 1100 scientists comprise our research community, including nine members of the National Academy of Sciences, 11 on‐staff members of the Institute of Medicine and nine members of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Current initiatives have attracted a record $225 million in annual funding, including more federal funding than any other pediatric facility. In the John F. Enders Pediatric Research Laboratories, named for the Boston Children's researcher and Nobel Prize recipient who cultured the polio and measles viruses, hundreds of laboratory researchers and physician investigators search for answers to some of the most perplexing diseases. In 2003, a generous philanthropic gift made the 295 000 square foot Karp Family Research Laboratories possible. The building increased our research space by more than 60 percent. The Karp family gift is just one of many important gifts that support Boston Children's Hospital vital research enterprise. Through the years, scientists at Boston Children's have set the pace in pediatric research, identifying treatments and therapies for many debilitating diseases, including those of adulthood.
One of our core missions is to educate the next generation of leaders in child health. Boston Children's is the primary pediatric teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School where we train more than 1000 physicians in pediatrics and in all pediatric subspecialties. Our training programs in pediatrics and all resident and fellowship pediatric surgical and medical subspecialty training programs are among the most sought after anywhere in the world. Our training program graduates currently serve as the Deans at 2 U.S. medical schools and numerous Department Chairs and program leaders at the National Institute of Health and at the leading pediatric departments throughout the United States and England.
At Boston Children's Hospital, we've been the leaders in pediatric innovation since the hospital opened its doors nearly 150 years ago. Innovation is in our hearts and in our heads. It's our history and our future. Whether we are delivering care at the bedside or supporting those who do, we are all focused on the same mission‐providing the highest quality care to the children and families who put their trust in us. We innovate for the future‐for the children and families we care for, the ones whose faces we know and for the many more whom we don't yet know. With the establishment of the Innovation and Digital Health Accelerator (IDHA), Boston Children's is taking the next step in shaping the future of health care and extending our pediatric leadership through new technologies, collaborations with industry, and the development of a comprehensive digital health platform. IDHA draws together a team from across Boston Children's, including innovators and trailblazers in the fields of informatics, technology, clinical, digital, business development talent, and the TeleHealth team, and provides Boston Children's with a mechanism for sourcing, vetting, resourcing, building, piloting and commercializing innovations in collaboration with others across the enterprise. Through the creation of the Innovation and Digital Health Accelerator, Boston Children's reinforces a commitment to, and investment in pediatric innovation. We are combining our data, clinical expertise, and health care technology development experience, with leading worldwide industry partners—including start‐ups—to transform health care.