History
The history of Children's Hospital Los Angeles is an ongoing story of how exceptional leaders advance and even transform a community. Children's Hospital was founded at a time when few people thought a hospital for children was possible, let alone that it could -- or would -- evolve into one of the world's outstanding pediatric healthcare facilities.
Founded in 1901, Children's Hospital Los Angeles is a worldwide leader in pediatric and adolescent health. Children's Hospital is one of America's premier teaching hospitals, affiliated with the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California since 1932.
1900 - Planning for the first Children’s Hospital begins at a town meeting at the YMCA Auditorium, in what is now Downtown Los Angeles. At the time, the city has a population of 102,479 residents.
1901 - Children’s Hospital Los Angeles is founded as a private charitable hospital on April 1, 1901, by the King’s Daughters, one of the first female philanthropic organizations in Los Angeles. Mrs. L.E.M. Brainerd serves as the first president.
1902 - Known as “the little house on Castelar Street,” in what is now Chinatown, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles admits 14 patients in its first year. The “surgery suite” opens in what was the house’s pantry. The hospital’s only doctor makes house calls on horseback.
1907 - Kate Page Crutcher becomes president, serving until 1946. Under Mrs. Crutcher’s tenure, the hospital grows from a small volunteer service in a house to a major pediatric facility.
1912 - A new hospital named Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles will be built on the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Vermont Avenue in Hollywood. Mrs. Emma Phillips bequeaths four acres to the Children’s Hospital Society for the project.
1914 - On Feb. 7, President Woodrow Wilson presides by telegraph from the White House over the official opening of the new Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles. He presses a button on his desk, “causing bells to ring and throws the building into a blaze of light.”
Kate Page Crutcher establishes the Hermosa Beach Auxiliary (later called the South Bay Auxiliary), the first of many Associate and Affiliate fundraising groups established to support Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. The group is still in existence today.
1920 - The Department of Physiotherapy opens for children in need of physical rehabilitation, many of whom are suffering from polio.
1921 - The Children’s Hospital School of Physical Therapy opens, one of only five accredited physical therapy schools in nation.
1928 - The first children’s heart clinic opens at Children’s Hospital, the only program of its kind in the western United States.
The Hermosa Beach Auxiliary presents the Hermosa Beach Convalescent Home to Children’s Hospital, providing for children who need longer term care after they leave the hospital.
1932 - The hospital becomes affiliated with the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California.
1934 - The Kate Page Crutcher Building opens, housing a physical therapy gymnasium, indoor swimming pool and treatment rooms. It later becomes the Teenage Health Center.
1939 - The first successful ligation surgery in western North America for patent ductus arteriosus — a condition in which abnormal blood flow occurs between two of the major arteries connected to the heart — is performed at Children’s Hospital.
1941 - After years of inconsistency, lawyers for the hospital recommend using the name as it appears in the hospital’s original incorporation papers, without an apostrophe.
1943 - The Junior League of Los Angeles donates its Convalescent Home on Westmoreland Avenue to the hospital, providing a safer inland location during World War II for children needing long-term care.
1947 - Mary McAlister Duque joins the Board of Children’s Hospital. Mrs. Duque is the driving fundraising force for the hospital for the next 40 years. She serves as president of the Board of Directors from 1970 until her death in 1990.
1950 - The Hematology Program is established.
Pediatric Research Laboratories open.
1953 - The Michael J. Connell Clinic opens, a three-story building which provides much needed space for outpatient care, increasing the hospital’s bed count to 233.
1956 - The Santa Anita Foundation Research Building is dedicated, allowing for expansion of research programs.
Children’s Hospital researchers publish findings on the treatment of acute lymphatic leukemia with the drug Prednisone, establishing the drug as the standard of care for treating this form of leukemia.
1960 - The Division of Hematology is established.
1962 - Nearly nine acres of land surrounding the hospital are acquired, paving the way for expansion.
The name is legally changed from Childrens Hospital Society of Los Angeles to Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles.
1963 - The Division of Adolescent Medicine is established.
1964 - The Development Fund Campaign is announced. Mary Duque supplements the talents of her women’s fund-raising corps with a broad-based group of community and business leaders.
1967 - The Division of Nephrology is founded, becoming one of only two programs in the U.S. performing dialysis on children.
The first kidney transplant is performed at Children’s Hospital.
The Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism is established.
1968 - The new 282,000-square-foot, nine-story hospital building opens. In 1973 it is named in honor of Mary Duque.
1971 - The first pediatric protective environment is developed, now known as the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit, for children with resistant cancers undergoing intense chemotherapy.
The Division of Allergy is established.
1973 - The Divisions of Neonatology and Pediatric Pulmonology are established, including the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, now known as the Newborn and Infant Critical Care Unit.
The 165,000-square-foot McAlister Building opens. The building is made possible by a gift from Fern and Harold McAlister, brother of Mary Duque.
1977 - For the first time in Children’s Hospital history, a six-month-old patient on mechanically-assisted ventilation for a breathing disorder is discharged home while still on a ventilator.
The 85,000-square-foot George C. Page Building is dedicated, thanks to a pledge from Mr. Page, vice president of the hospital’s Board of Directors.
1978 - The first successful bone marrow transplant of a patient with Wiskott Aldrich Syndrome, a genetic immune system disorder that can lead to frequent infections and excessive bleeding, is performed at Children’s Hospital.
1980 - The Weingart Foundation Pediatric Intensive Care Unit is established, becoming the largest PICU in the western United States.
1983 - The Division of Bone Marrow Transplantation and Research Immunology is founded. The first bone marrow transplant at Children’s Hospital is performed.
The Immunology Program is established.
The Division of Plastic Surgery opens.
Children’s Hospital becomes a charter member of the Children’s Miracle Network.
Physicians at Children’s Hospital identify the first pediatric AIDS case in Southern California.
1985 - Researchers at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles discover the relationship between Type 1b glycogen storage disease and inflammatory bowel disease, leading to an innovative treatment.
1986 - Children’s Hospital establishes the first formal pediatric AIDS program in Southern California. The Patient and Family Resource Center opens, an information and referral service center for patient families.
1987 - The ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation) program accepts its first patients, offering heart-lung bypass support to infants in respiratory failure.
1988 - The 120,000-square-foot H. Russell and Jeanne R. Smith Research Tower is completed on Sunset Boulevard, named in honor of the person who guided the hospital through troubling financial times in the early 1980s as chairman of the Board of Directors. Mr. Smith also was an advocate for and supporter of pediatric research at Children’s Hospital.
1989 - Children’s Hospital is named among the top four pediatric facilities in the country in the first U.S. News & World Report “America’s Best Hospitals” survey.
The “of” in Children’s Hospital’s name is dropped, renaming the hospital Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
1990 - Physicians pioneer the development of limb implants to treat bone cancer, saving young patients from amputation or death.
1991 - Scientists at Children’s Hospital discover that bone marrow may be removed, purged of cancerous tumor cells and returned to the patient, proving a highly effective treatment for certain cancers.
A surgical team implants a miniature pacemaker into an 8-day-old premature infant weighing only 3 pounds, one of the smallest recipients ever to receive a pacemaker.
1992 - A 110,000-square-foot outpatient tower opens on the south side of the Children’s Hospital campus, allowing for expansion of needed clinic space.
1993 - Surgeons perform three firsts for Children’s Hospital Los Angeles: a pediatric heart transplant, a pediatric lung transplant and, in worldwide first, a double-lobe lung transplant, using a lung lobe from each of the patient’s parents.
In a hospital first, Children’s Hospital and USC physicians perform a bone marrow transplant on a patient with sickle cell disease.
The world’s first transfer of a healthy gene into umbilical cord blood cells of a newborn corrects a genetic defect.
The world’s first gene therapy is performed on newborns with ADA-deficient severe combined immunodeficiency (Bubble Baby Disease).
1995 - Researchers at Children’s Hospital discover the key role that transcription factor TTF-1 plays in the formation of the embryonic lung, a major advancement in the quest to grow or regenerate organs for repair or transplant.
1997 - Physicians collaborate on a clinical trial using gene therapy for the first time on a child with HIV-1 infection, resulting in the world’s first gene therapy treatment for children with the disease.
On the front lawn of Children’s Hospital, Gov. Pete Wilson signs legislation creating the Healthy Families program, designed to provide comprehensive, affordable private health insurance to California’s low-income uninsured children.
1998 - Surgeons perform the hospital’s first liver transplant, and in that same year, its first living donor liver transplant. Lydia Hand is the recipient.
1999 - Helinet Aviation provides a $2 million Sikorsky S-76A helicopter to be used exclusively by the hospital’s Emergency Transport Program, ensuring 24-hour helicopter services at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
2000 - Identical twins suffering from hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, a rare blood disease, are the first to receive a bone marrow transplant from the same donor.
2001 - Children’s Hospital Los Angeles celebrates its Centennial with a full year of activities.
The 105,000-square-foot Gateway Building and the Bertie Green Bettingen Surgery Center open as part of the Centennial celebration.
Surgeons perform the hospital’s first “bloodless” liver transplant, performed without the transfusion of blood or blood products. The procedure honors religious beliefs that do not allow blood transfusions, and also reduces the risk of infection and immunological complications.
2003 - The Saban Research Institute opens; both the Institute and the 88,500-square-foot Saban Research Building are named with a transformative $40 million gift from Cheryl Saban, PhD, and Haim Saban, among the largest individual donors in the hospital’s history.
The Living Proof campaign is announced, which goes on to raise more than $1 billion and becomes the largest fundraising effort in the hospital’s history.
2004 - Surgeons perform the hospital’s first small bowel transplant.
2005 - A groundbreaking ceremony is held to celebrate construction of a new $636 million Marion and John E. Anderson Pavilion, to be built next to Children’s Hospital.
2006 - Eight local high school students are the first to participate in LA-HIP (Latino and African American High School Internship Program), opening more opportunities in research to minorities.
2007 - The Vision Center, an international center for children with complex eye diseases, opens.
2008 - The American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) grants Magnet status to Children’s Hospital, the highest recognition a hospital can receive for nursing excellence.
Surgeons perform the hospital’s first kidney/liver transplant.
The structural steel “Topping Off” ceremony is held for the Marion and John E. Anderson Pavilion.
2009 - Children’s Hospital creates the Center for Personalized Medicine, which coordinates, supports and expands basic and translational research in genomics, proteomics, bioinformatics, molecular genetics, molecular microbiology and cytogenetics.
2010 - Children’s Hospital’s 460,000-square-foot Marion and John E. Anderson Pavilion is completed.
The hospital is named one of eight children’s hospitals in the nation — and the only on the West Coast — ranked in all 10 pediatric specialties by U.S. News & World Report, earning the facility a seat on the national Honor Roll of children’s hospital by the magazine.
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles unveils a new logo and tagline, and also officially adds the long-lost apostrophe back into the hospital’s name.
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles is one of just seven children’s hospitals to be designated a “Top Hospital” for 2010 by The Leapfrog Group, and the only one in the western United States.
CHLA launches its very first outpatient specialty center, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles – Arcadia.
2011 – Marion and John E. Anderson announce a $50 million gift to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. In their honor, the new hospital building is named the Marion and John E. Anderson Pavilion.
Once again, Children’s Hospital is ranked in all 10 pediatric specialties by U.S. News & World Report, earning a seat on the magazine’s national Honor Roll of children’s hospitals. It is one of only 11 hospitals in the nation to make the list, and the only one in California.
On July 17, 2011, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles officially opens the 317-bed Marion and John E. Anderson Pavilion.
The hospital is again named to the prestigious “Top Hospital” list by The Leapfrog Group for 2011.
2012 – Children’s Hospital completes the Living Proof campaign, the most successful fundraising effort in the hospital’s history. It is the only single fundraising campaign by a freestanding, independent children’s hospital to raise more than $1 billion.
CHLA launches its second outpatient specialty center, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles – Valencia.
2013 – The hospital is again ranked among the top five children’s hospitals in the country, and is the only hospital on the West Coast to be listed on U.S. News and World Report’s Honor Roll of children’s hospitals for 2013-14.
CHLA earns Magnet redesignation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center.
The hospital opens two new outpatient specialty centers, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles – South Bay (in Torrance), and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles – Santa Monica.
2014 – The hospital continues its streak, ranking among the top five children’s hospitals in the country for the third year in a row, and is again the only hospital on the West Coast to make U.S. News and World Report’s Honor Roll of children’s hospitals.
2015 – For the seventh straight year, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles is ranked among the top 10 children’s hospitals in the nation on U.S. News & World Report’s prestigious honor roll of children’s hospital. It is the only hospital in California to make the list.
CHLA opens its fifth outpatient specialty center, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles – Encino.
The hospital welcomes new president and CEO Paul S. Viviano in August 2015.
2016 – Children’s Hospital Los Angeles is ranked among the top 10 children’s hospitals in the nation on the prestigious U.S. News & World Report Honor Roll of children’s hospitals for the eighth consecutive year. Ranking No. 7, it is the top ranked pediatric hospital in California as well.
2017 – CHLA is again ranked among the top 10 children’s hospitals in the nation, gaining one spot at No. 6, on the U.S. News & World Report Honor Roll of children’s hospitals. The hospital is the top-ranked pediatric facility on the West Coast.
The hospital launched the CHLA Health Network, the first pediatric clinically integrated network in Los Angeles County.
For the third consecutive time, the American Nurses Credentialing Center bestows Magnet recognition for Clinical Excellence on Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
2018 – CHLA is again ranked the No. 6 children’s hospital in the nation on the U.S. News & World Report Honor Roll of children’s hospitals. The hospital is the top-ranked pediatric facility in the western United States.
2019 – CHLA jumps one spot to No. 5 on the U.S. News & World Report Honor Roll of children’s hospitals, making the hospital the No. 1 children’s hospital in California, No. 1 in the western U.S. and a top 5 hospital in the nation.
2020 - CHLA is again ranked the No. 5 children’s hospital in the nation on the U.S. News & World Report Honor Roll of children’s hospitals.
2021 - For the third straight year, CHLA is ranked the No. 5 children’s hospital in the nation on the U.S. News & World Report Honor Roll of children’s hospitals.
- First at CHLA
- Timeline
Cancer and Blood Disease Institute
The Cancer and Blood Disease Institute pioneered treatments now used as the standard for acute leukemia, the most common childhood cancer.
Heart Institute
The Heart Institute performed the first pediatric heart surgery on the West Coast in 1939.
Imaging
Our Department of Radiology has changed the world of brain research for children with the development of a magnetic resonance-compatible incubator, making CHLA the first in the world to perform functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) on even the tiniest babies. This powerful tool, which allows researchers to study how the developing brain processes information, will advance the understanding of brain function in both children and adults.
The Saban Research Institute
Researchers at The Saban Research Institute:
- pioneered a treatment that improved the survival rate of children with neuroblastoma from 15% to 55% (treatment combines bone marrow transplantation, chemotherapy and retinoic acid)
- developed an innovative laser/chemotherapy treatment for retinoblastoma that is considered the most significant therapeutic advance in a quarter-century
- performed the world's first transfer of a healthy gene into the umbilical cord blood cells of a newborn to correct a genetic defect detected in utero in a baby with Severe Combined Immunodeficiency Disease, known in common parlance as “bubble baby” disease
- conducted the world’s first gene therapy clinical trial for children infected with HIV-1
- identified molecules that interact with genes to trigger the growth of lung stem cells into lung tissue, becoming the first to grow lung tissue in the laboratory
1895
Members of a service organization known as the King's Daughters set up an innovative day nursery to assist poor families which would later propel the King's Daughters to propose establishing a children's hospital in Los Angeles.
1900
Two-hundred printed handbills circulated through the city inviting Los Angeles citizens to participate in plans for a children's hospital. The printing was financed with proceeds from needlework supervised by Mrs. E.A. Williams, who is remembered with Mrs. Jennie Horrell, Mrs. G.W. Smith and Mrs. W.P. Lewis as early leaders of the hospital movement.
On November 13th, the first public meeting under the auspices of the King's Daughters was held at the old YMCA building on Fort Street (now Broadway) near Second Street in downtown Los Angeles. By-laws subsequently adopted stipulated that a board of 15 women would serve as the hospital's Board of Managers in charge of the new hospital and the appointment of visiting physicians.
Seven women would comprise the Board of Directors to handle the business affairs of the corporation. A Board of Counselors would be available to them for legal and financial advice. Fundraising would be the province of the women Managers, and it was a task they undertook with energy and aplomb.
April 4, 1901
The hospital was formally incorporated as the Childrens Hospital Society of Los Angeles, under the laws of California. Comprising the Board of Directors were Mrs. L.E.M. Brainerd, Miss M.F. Wills, Mrs. F.W. Wood, Mrs. B. Baruch, Mrs. W.L. Williams, Mrs. J.R. Newberry and Miss Amelia Smead. Miss Marion Hooker was seated shortly thereafter.
The indefatigable members of the new Childrens Hospital Society managed to secure an interim site for the hospital at the southwest corner of Alpine and Castelar (now Hill) Streets (part of today's Chinatown business and tourist district). The property had been the home of General Edward Bouton, a Civil War hero who had served as chief of artillery under General Sherman and had been lauded for his leadership by President Abraham Lincoln. General Bouton was approached by the hospital committee, and he responded with a long-term lease at nominal rent and liberal terms including an option for purchase.
1902
Well wishers and visitors were invited to the little house at 769 Castelar Street on January 22 to inspect the premises and join the hospital's Directors in celebrating the opening of the hospital. During the hospital's first fiscal year (through March 30, 1902) 14 patients were admitted.
The hospital received a generous gift, one that was to have long-term benefits, when hospital supporter Mrs. L.C. Goodwin deeded to the Childrens Hospital Society a property located on Broadway between Fifth and Sixth Streets. The lease on the property yielded $3,000 a year to the Society and funds could be borrowed for improvements at the Castelar house.
Not selling the property at once was a savvy business decision made by the women Managers. The Goodwin gift would become important in the hospital's move to more modern quarters 10 years later.
1904
The Castelar Street house was enlarged and remodeled to accommodate 20 patients.
The kitchen pantry was converted to a "surgery suite".
1905
The hospital's Visiting Nurses Program began. During the program's first year, 31 children and 15 adults were visited and cared for in their homes.
1906
Mrs. Emma Phillips revised her Last Will and Testament to include a bequest to the Society of land she owned in Hollywood. She specified that the land be used for a building and play yard. In her Will she included cash gifts to be applied to construction and landscaping and requested that the building be called the "Lillian Home" in memory of her daughter, Lillian Fellows Burdett.
This early example of "planned giving" would later provide the Society almost four acres of land situated in a largely undeveloped, remote part of the city, the southeast corner of Sunset Boulevard and Vermont Avenue. The generous gift would hasten realization of a permanent, well-equipped hospital.
1907
The financial panic of 1907 brought difficult times for the hospital but brought good fortune in the selection of Mrs. Albert Crutcher as president. Kate Page Crutcher was to direct the Society's activities for the next 40 years.
As a result of the financial panic of 1907, an auxiliary of 10 young women came forward to do mending and sew hospital gowns. Within a year, the 10 became 80. The first officers, Miss Susan W. Carpenter, Miss Ruth Sterry, Miss Mary S. Clark and Miss Lucille K. Chandler, had the foresight to organize the group into units which then took charge of diverse duties. This first of the many future auxiliaries established a pattern of assistance that would become invaluable to the hospital.
1909
Following the death of Mrs. Emma Phillips on October 25, 1909, the hospital Board set out to effectuate her wishes in building a better equipped hospital that could meet the increasing needs of the community.
1912
The downtown property donated by Mrs. L. C. Goodwin was sold during the real estate boom that Los Angeles was experiencing and brought an astounding $225,000. The proceeds from Mrs. Emma Phillips, Mrs. L.C. Goodwin, and other generous gifts ensured construction of an ambitious new building.
Groundbreaking on construction for the new hospital took place on November 26. The new construction at the outlying region of Sunset and Vermont would increase the 20-bed hospital to a 100-bed facility.
1914
The much-anticipated grand opening of the new hospital took place, with President Woodrow Wilson officiating from the White House via telegraph. An accredited School for Nurses was established.
1915
The newly-opened Outpatient Department increased its patient load so quickly that it was necessary to expand it from one room to three its first year.
1916
The newly opened "Roentgen Ray" Department (Radiology) and the Orthopedic Department are enlarged.
1919
A Salvage Department is established at 712 Maple Avenue with a business plan directed at obtaining a permanent and steady income by operating a mercantile establishment transforming salvage of all kinds into cash.
1920
A new Physiotherapy Department was established for treatment of the child patients by natural forces such as light, heat, water, electricity, massage, manipulation and exercise.
1922
The hospital benefited from the donated services of additional specialty practitioners: an oral surgeon, neurological surgeon, oculist, psychiatrist, dermatologist, pathologist, and anesthetist.
1926
The Childrens Hospital Society commemorates its Silver Anniversary-25 years of service to children. The occasion was celebrated with a festive open house inviting the public to bring silver to make the anniversary memorable. Such contributions plus the financing that had been obtained would allow needed new construction to go forward in answer to the overcrowding and shortage of facilities.
1927
Groundbreaking ceremonies for the new construction take place on May 5th. The new East Wing, more than twice the size of the original building, would cover 47,747 square feet of floor space.
1928
The work on the new East Wing is completed and it is officially opened.
1932
An important affiliation was established with the University of Southern California School of Medicine. This fundamental relationship was to serve as an academic umbrella and make possible the recruiting of highly qualified physicians and scientists.
1934
A new orthopedic building was designed and was dedicated to Mrs. Crutcher on April 2nd.
1936
The Serum Center opened. It was the only serum laboratory in the West and one of seven such centers in the United States meeting the specifications of the National Institute of Health and licensed by the United States Public Health Service. Serums from Children's Hospital Los Angeles were sent to doctors throughout the United States and flown to Mexico and Honolulu.
1
939
Childrens Hospital surgeon John C. Jones made history on March 29th by performing the first pediatric heart surgery on the West Coast. This was the first of a series of milestones in this important field of pediatric medicine.
1943
The Junior League of Los Angeles presents its Convalescent Home on nearby Westmoreland Avenue to the hospital. The Childrens Hospital Convalescent Home continued to serve the community by caring for children who required longer periods of treatment.
1948
Following the end of World War II, plans to expand the hospital were begun. A new building was to be erected on Sunset Boulevard between the 1914 hospital building and the nurses' home on Vermont Avenue.
The design called for a 12-story building that would have the long-talked of private pavilion and would bring the hospital's total bed count to 365. The women Managers and Directors set out to raise the unprecedented funds needed.
1951
Mrs. Gabriel Duque is recruited to head the hospital's auxiliary groups.
1953
Childrens Hospital was fortunate to be a recipient of funds from the Michael J. Connell Foundation. Mr. Connell was a successful banker, civic leader, sportsman and philanthropist who established a foundation for charitable purposes.
The funds enabled the construction of the new Michael J. Connell Building, which provided outpatient facilities for twice the previous patient load. The Outpatient Departments were comprised of 38 specialized clinics.
1954
Construction commenced on the hospital's great new research building financed through the generosity of the Santa Anita Foundation. The facility included three stories to house the laboratories and a one-story auditorium with a seating capacity of 230. The new structure, of modern design, was to face Sunset Boulevard, east of the existing hospital.
The institution pioneered pediatric open-heart surgery in Southern California.
Mrs. Albert Crutcher dies. Mrs. Crutcher was President of the hospital from 1907 until 1946.
1960
The cost of care at Childrens Hospital had soared to $3.7 million annually, and the hospital reported 105,000 outpatient clinic visits, with nearly 10,000 children admitted to hospital beds.
1961
The name of the hospital was changed from Childrens Hospital Society to the briefer Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles.
1962
Dr. John C. Wilson, Jr. elected as the Chairman of the Medical Staff. Dr. Wilson's father was the hospital's first intern in 1912.
1963
The Medical Staff of Childrens Hospital numbered 456, yet only 31 members were full- time hospital paid staff. The majority of the doctors still gave their time and services without charge.
Adolescent Program started by Dr. Donald Weston.
Fundraising begins in earnest for a replacement hospital facility, an unfulfilled dream since the 1940s.
1964
Dr. Robert Ward served as the hospital's Physician-in-Chief and as Chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Southern California School of Medicine and later served as the hospital's Research Director.
Dr. Ward played a key role in selecting and acquiring respected leaders as heads for the departments of Pathology, Radiology, Surgery and Anesthesia. Dr. Wards's activities were central in helping Childrens Hospital's formal transition from a community-based center to a nationally and internationally known institution.
1965
Children's Hospital Los Angeles is the first on the West Coast to perform a successful surgical remedy for transposition of arteries.
1966
The hospital's Research Institute opened amid expectation that increased molecular understanding of the human cell, together with the developing technology of gene therapy, could mean ultimate control of pediatric cancers, inherited disorders and other devastating diseases of childhood.
1967
The hospital's Division of Nephrology (kidney) was founded. The first living-related transplant occurred on February 8.
A separate Adolescent Medicine unit is opened, and the hospital becomes the first pediatric center in the West to offer a separate, specialized service for hospitalized teenagers.
1968
The magnificent new Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles was officially dedicated on Sunday afternoon, September 29th.
1971
Dr. Robert "Mac" McAllister, distinguished scientist and head of the hospital's Virology Research Division, discovered the most likely candidate for a human C-type virus yet found. If virus RD 114 were indeed a human cancer virus, it would provide some of the first solid evidence of the viral etiology of cancer, a tremendous medical advance.
1973
The modern styled McAlister Building was completed in March. It was designed and equipped to provide the finest possible setting for the delivery of Emergency Services and Ambulatory Patient Care. The single most innovative feature of the McAlister Building was the introduction of a new concept in the organization and delivery of Ambulatory Patient Care. The concept was a radical departure from traditional outpatient clinics with their interminable waiting lines, crowded seating space and often-fragmented patient care.
A convalescent facility was included as the top floor of the McAlister Building, eliminating the need for the Convalescent Home. The former building that housed the Convalescent Home was turned over to the Division of Adolescent Medicine.
1977
The dedication of the hospital's newest building, named for Board of Directors member and noted Southeran California philanthropist, George C. Page, took place on December 12, 1977.
1978
Extraordinary inflation affected the nation and challenged Childrens Hospital with soaring costs and a severe disruption to the hospital's critical cash flow. The hospital underwent efforts to reduce operating costs, which would compromise the institution's high standard of care.
1980
The 36 bed Weingart Foundation Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) on the second floor of the George C. Page Building marked another milestone in the hospital's history of providing the best possible pediatric medicine. It was the largest PICU in the Western United States, adding to the hospital's capability for treating the most serious pediatric cases.
1982
The hospital now served as the principal referral source for critically ill babies and children in the southwestern United States. It admitted approximately 14,000 patients annually and operated one of the nation's busiest pediatric ambulatory patient services.
Medical advances are made in the hospital's Oncology Program addressing leukemia, the most prevalent form of childhood cancer. Doctors at the hospital were jubilant that more than 400 long-term survivors had been disease-free from five to more than 25 years. By using advanced chemotherapy together with multidisciplinary supportive care, the hospital's doctors and staff were able to give children a 90-95% chance of remission.
1983
The hospital's Immunology Program begins in 1983 for treatment of children with immune system deficiencies. Also in this period, the Plastic Surgery Division opened.
The hospital's new center dedicated to full-service craniofacial care produced outstanding results. The Craniofacial and Cleft Center offered a wide spectrum of specialized treatments, with the majority of patients seeking treatment for cleft palates and cleft lips. Since its founding, the Center has become one of the largest and most respected services of its type in the world.
1989
The hospital completed construction of its first research building, The H. Russell and Jeanne R. Smith Research Tower. Named for the hospital chairman who served as steward of the beleaguered institution in its most troubled days in the early 1980s, the 10-story research facility symbolized the dynamic future for Childrens Hospital as an international leader in pediatric research and medicine.
1990
Mrs. Gabriel C. Duque dies in her sleep. Mrs. Duque had raised more than $100 million for Children's Hospital Los Angeles and had watched it grow from a community-based facility to the greatest pediatric medical center in the West.
For the first time, U.S. News and World Report cites Childrens Hospital as one of the top five pediatric facilities in the country and the best pediatric hospital on the West Coast.
1992
The Outpatient Tower opens. It is accessed by a pedestrian bridge that crosses DeLongpre Street. The George C. Page Childrens Hospital Center is opened in an attempt to offer economically disadvantaged patients better options for basic, non-emergency health care. The Center was the first of its kind in California, providing acute and urgent care, primary care, immunizations, lab tests, referrals, subspecialty resources and community-oriented education.
The hospital's Board of Trustees established the Children's Hospital Los Angeles Research Institute as the umbrella organization to direct and support the hospital's research mission.
Also, this year, Children's Hospital Los Angeles revised its logo for the hospital. The previous mark incorporated two large hands in a single color, symbolizing the hands of an adult caregiver, outstretched to embrace the small hand of a child needing medical care. This revised logo placed the hands over an asymmetrical circle consisting of a bold color palette reminiscent of childhood and in the color sequence of a rainbow.
This mark served as the hospital's main brand for nearly two deades and became associated closely with the hospital's mission of compassionate patient care, education for the next generation of brilliant clinicians and scientists and innovative research efforts in a vastly underserved segment of our population. As a nonprofit hospital, this logo was used on all of the institution's fundraising efforts.
1993
Children's Hospital Los Angeles surgeon, Dr. Vaughn Starnes, head of the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, and his team perform the world's first double lobar lung transplant.
The world's first gene therapy procedure is performed on three newborns. The procedure, which also involved the first transfer of genetic material into the blood of a baby's stem cell-rich umbilical cord, was performed on infants who were diagnosed in utero with a form of severe combined immunodeficiency, commonly known as "bubble boy disease".
1996
The Heart Institute at Children's Hospital Los Angeles is established. It is recognized as a worldwide leader in the diagnosis and treatment of pediatric heart disease.
The hospital's cancer related programs are consolidated as the Childrens Center for Cancer and Blood Diseases. It is the largest pediatric hematology/oncology program in the nation; the Center records nearly 20,000 outpatient visits each year. The Center is committed to and has become a leader in identifying innovative and effective new treatments for some of the worst cancers and blood diseases plaguing children.
1998
The hospital's new Liver Transplant Program began, and young patients in need of liver transplants no longer need to be referred to other facilities.
1999
Groundbreaking for the Marion and John E. Anderson Building and Burtie Green Bettingen Surgery Center is held on March 13.
2000
On November 13, the kick off for the hospital's Centennial Celebration is launched.
2001
Dedication of the Marion and John E. Anderson Building and the Burtie Green Bettingen Surgery Center on May 18.
"Happy 100th Birthday Party"--The Centennial Gala to benefit Children's Hospital Los Angeles.
2001
On May 19-20, the Centennial Celebration Weekend Family Festival and Street Fair is celebrated at Sunset and Vermont.
2003
The Research Institute is renamed The Saban Research Institute to honor a transformational gift from Dr. Cheryl Saban; Haim Saban; and the Saban Family Foundation on June 29, . The hospital's second research facility is completed and named The Saban Research Building.
A team of nearly 80 surgeons, physicians, nurses and other medical personnel participated in a 24-hour surgical procedure to separate conjoined twin girls on September 10.
2004
The Joyce and Stanley Black and Family Healing and Meditation Garden is dedicated on June 23, creating a special place for staff, patients, and families to enjoy a relaxing outdoor setting at our hospital.
2005
On June 9, ground is broken on the Marion and John E. Anderson Pavilion and an exciting future in pediatric medicine. More than 300 donors, volunteers, staff members, dignitaries and guests gathered on the rooftop of the visitor parking structure, which was later razed to make room for the state-of-the-art inpatient facility. Walter W. Noce, Jr., the hospital’s chief executive officer, tells the receptive crowd that the groundbreaking represents “the dawn of a new era for Childrens Hospital and a renewed commitment to the children and families of Los Angeles, the surrounding counties and children everywhere.”
2006
A team of nearly 80 surgeons, physicians, nurses and other medical personnel participate in a 24-hour surgical procedure to separate conjoined twin girls on June 14.
2008
The American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) grants Magnet status to Children’s Hospital, the highest recognition a hospital can receive for nursing excellence. Surgeons perform the hospital’s first kidney/liver transplant. On March 9, the structural steel “Topping Off” ceremony is held for Marion and John E. Anderson Pavilion.
2009
Children’s Hospital creates the Center for Personalized Medicine, which coordinates, supports and expands basic and translational research in genomics, proteomics, bioinformatics, molecular genetics, molecular microbiology and cytogenetics.
2010
Children’s Hospital’s 460,000-square-foot Marion and John E. Anderson Pavilion is completed. The hospital is named one of eight children’s hospitals in the nation — and the only on the West Coast — ranked in all 10 pediatric specialties by U.S. News & World Report, earning the facility a seat on the national Honor Roll of children’s hospital by the magazine. Children’s Hospital Los Angeles unveils a new logo and tagline, and also officially adds the long-lost apostrophe back into the hospital’s title. Children’s Hospital Los Angeles is one of just seven children’s hospitals to be designated a “Top Hospital” for 2010 by The Leapfrog Group, and the only one in the western United States.
2011
Marion and John E. Anderson announce a $50 million gift to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. In their honor, the new hospital building is named the Marion and John E. Anderson Pavilion. Once again, Children’s Hospital is ranked in all 10 pediatric specialties by U.S. News & World Report, earning the facility a seat on the magazine’s national Honor Roll of children’s hospitals. It is one of only 11 hospitals in the nation to make the list, and the only one in California.
On July 10, 2011, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles officially opens the 317-bed Marion and John E. Anderson Pavilion and begins providing inpatient care for children in its new facility.