St. Louis Children's Hospital is a pediatric hospital in St. Louis, Missouri. SLCH is the pediatric teaching hospital for Washington University School of Medicine, ranked the 3rd best medical school in the United States by U.S. News & World Report.

The entrance to St. Louis Children's Hospital.

[edit] Patient Population

St. Louis Children's Hospital serves the health care needs of children, from infancy to adolescence, and advocates on behalf of children and families. Each year over 275,000 patients visit St. Louis Children’s Hospital. Patients have come from all 50 states and 56 countries. St. Louis Children’s Hospital has 250 licensed beds, including a 26-bed pediatric intensive care unit, a 12-bed pediatric cardiac intensive care unit, a 10 bed video-EEG monitoring unit, a 75-bed newborn intensive care unit and a 5-bed pediatric bone marrow transplant unit.

[edit] Services

Pediatric polysomnography patient
Children's Hospital

• The hospital offers comprehensive services in every pediatric medical and surgical specialty. It extends its services to children and families in the community through numerous health workshops and educational partnerships. Advocacy efforts have included programs on nutrition and fitness, childhood immunizations, injury prevention, firearm safety, car seat and helmet safety, and smoking prevention and cessation.

• St. Louis Children's Hospital has the world's largest pediatric lung transplant program, and also offers transplant programs for heart, liver, kidney, and bone marrow. The hospital has performed more than 300 lung and lung-heart transplants in its history. It is one of the top pediatric transplant centers in the country.

• St. Louis Children's Hospital is recognized as a pediatric burn center by the American Burn Association. It is the only children's hospital in eastern Missouri and the Metro-East area of Illinois to earn this designation.

• The hospital's Center for Cerebral Palsy Spasticity performs more selective dorsal rhizotomy surgeries than any facility in the United States.

• Saint Louis Children's Hospital offers comprehensive EEG/Epilepsy [[1]] services. The Epilepsy center consists of a 4 bed outpatient clinic, and a state-of-the-art 9 bed EEG-Video Monitoring Unit. The Epilepsy Center has the facilities to utilize a variety of diagnostic techniques (e.g., SPECT, fMRI, 3T MRI, DTI, PET, MEG, WADA, and ECoG) when evaluating patients for epilepsy surgery.

[edit] Research

In 2006, St. Louis Children's Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine collaborated to establish the Children's Discovery Institute with a goal of accelerating cures for childhood disease in four areas: congenital heart disease, cancer, lung and respiratory disorders, and musculoskeletal dieases.

As one of the country's top recipients in research grants, the School of Medicine's Department of Pediatrics received more than $24 million for pediatric research in 2005, ranking it in the top seven in the country. When combined with grants awarded to other pediatric disciplines, grants exceeded $30 million, placing the medical school's pediatric services as a consistent leader in National Institute of Health funding.

[edit] Awards and Accomplishments

Child magazine has named St. Louis Children's Hospital to its list of the nation's '10 Best' pediatric hospitals four consecutive times. St. Louis Children's is the only hospital in Missouri, Illinois and the surrounding eight-state region to achieve this elite ranking. In 2008, the magazine ranked Children's newborn medicine and orthopedics program #3; pulmonary medicine and emergency medicine ranked #4; and cardiac services ranked #6.^[1]

U.S. News & World Report has also repeatedly named St. Louis Children’s Hospital on its list of the Best Pediatric Hospitals in America. In 2008 the magazine ranked St. Louis Children's 6th in neurology and neurosurgery, 11th in neonatal care, 12th in respiratory disorders, 17th in general pediatrics, cancer care, heart and heart surgery, and 23rd in digestive disorders.^[2]

In October 2005, Children's Hospital received the nation’s highest honor for nursing excellence, the Magnet designation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). To date, only 170 of almost 5,000 hospitals nationwide – 3 percent – have Magnet status.

[edit] History

St. Louis Children’s Hospital was founded in 1879, making it the oldest pediatric hospital west of the Mississippi River and the seventh oldest in the United States. The hospital was originally a 15-bed house with just two patients. In 1884, St. Louis Children’s Hospital moved to a 60-bed hospital, and soon added a kindergarten, nursing school, and safe milk program. The hospital moved once again in 1907, next door to the Washington University School of Medicine.

[edit] External links

• Official site

[edit] References

1. ^ http://www.stlouischildrens.org/content/NewsReleases.htm?page_id=2587&inCtx12view=9&inCtx12pg=0&inCtx12news=3&site_id=1&minor=2&inCtx12news_id=164&major=2
2. ^ http://www.stlouischildrens.org/content/newsreleasearchive08.htm?page_id=4741&inCtx12view=10&inCtx12pg=0&inCtx12news=3&site_id=1&minor=0&inCtx12news_id=12&major=1
3. ^ U.S. News & World Report - Monday, JULY 28 - AUGUST 4, 2003
4. ^ http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-320608811.html
5. ^ http://www.stlouischildrens.org/content/newsreleasearchive04.htm?page_id=2961&inCtx12view=9&inCtx12pg=0&inCtx12news=7&site_id=1&minor=0&inCtx12news_id=109&major=1
6. ^ http://www.stlouischildrens.org/content/newsreleasearchive05.htm?page_id=2960&inCtx12view=9&inCtx12pg=0&inCtx12news=6&site_id=1&minor=0&inCtx12news_id=93&major=2
7. ^ http://www.childrenshospitalla.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=ipINKTOAJsG&b=3793521&ct=4908597
8. ^ http://www.stlouischildrens.org/content/newsreleasearchive06.htm?page_id=2959&inCtx12view=9&inCtx12pg=0&inCtx12news=5&site_id=1&minor=0&inCtx12news_id=70&major=2
9. ^ http://www.stlouischildrens.org/content/newsreleasearchive07.htm?page_id=2704&inCtx12view=9&inCtx12pg=0&inCtx12news=4&site_id=1&minor=2&inCtx12news_id=37&major=1
10. ^ http://www.stlouischildrens.org/content/newsreleasearchive07.htm?page_id=2704&inCtx12view=9&inCtx12pg=0&inCtx12news=4&site_id=1&minor=2&inCtx12news_id=52&major=1
11. ^ http://www.usnews.com/directories/hospitals/index_html/specialty+IHQPEDS/state+/page_number+2/page_size+10/sort+/name+/metro_area+/zip+/distance+/detail+less
12. ^ http://www.stlouischildrens.org/content/newsreleasearchive08.htm?page_id=4741&inCtx12view=10&inCtx12pg=0&inCtx12news=3&site_id=1&minor=0&inCtx12news_id=164&major=1

Coordinates: 38°38′15″N 90°15′54″W / 38.6375°N 90.2651°W / 38.6375; -90.2651