St. Christopher's Hospital for Children
Encyclopedia
St. Christopher's Hospital for Children is a 189 bed non-sectarian children’s hospital located near Center City, Philadelphia
. It is one of the oldest full-service hospitals in the United States totally dedicated to the care of children. St. Christopher’s Hospital has an academic affiliation with Drexel University College of Medicine
and the Temple University School of Medicine
.
. This facility includes an acute care hospital, a medical office building, a teaching and research center and research laboratories.
St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children operates several satellite offices throughout the Greater Philadelphia region and southern New Jersey. These include primary care offices and pediatric specialty care centers in Yardley, Pennsylvania, Northeast Philadelphia, East Falls, Pennsylvania, Reading, Pennsylvania and Washington Twp., Southern New Jersey.
The Pediatric Residency at St. Christopher's is top ranked. Each year St. Christopher's Hospital for Children receives thousands of applications to its Pediatric Residency Program from which 300 are selected to interview. From this group, St. Christopher's selects 24 PL-1 residents through the National Resident Matching Program.
The hospital operates a Level I Pediatric Trauma Center, a Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and a pediatric burn center. Other services and programs include minimally invasive surgery, kidney transplantation, cystic fibrosis center, sickle cell anemia care and research center, AIDS/HIV program, sleep center and fetal evaluation center.
Center City, Philadelphia
Center City, or Downtown Philadelphia includes the central business district and central neighborhoods of the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. As of 2005, its population of over 88,000 made it the third most populous downtown in the United States, after New York City's and Chicago's...
. It is one of the oldest full-service hospitals in the United States totally dedicated to the care of children. St. Christopher’s Hospital has an academic affiliation with Drexel University College of Medicine
Drexel University College of Medicine
Drexel University College of Medicine is the medical school of Drexel University. The medical school has the nation's largest enrollment for a private medical school, and represents the consolidation of two medical schools: the nation's first medical school for women and the first U.S. college of...
and the Temple University School of Medicine
Temple University School of Medicine
The Temple University School of Medicine , located on the Health Science Campus of Temple University in Philadelphia, PA, is one of 7 schools of medicine in Pennsylvania conferring the doctor of medicine degree. It also confers the Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in biomedical sciences.The 2011 U.S...
.
About
On November 30, 1875, founder William H. Bennett, MD, opened St. Christopher’s Hospital as a charitable ambulatory pediatric clinic. Over the years, the hospital added several buildings before outgrowing its quarters and in 1990, the hospital relocated to its present location on Erie Avenue and Front StreetFront Street (Philadelphia)
Front Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is a north-south street running parallel to and near the Delaware River. It was constructed when Philadelphia was laid out by William Penn in 1682....
. This facility includes an acute care hospital, a medical office building, a teaching and research center and research laboratories.
St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children operates several satellite offices throughout the Greater Philadelphia region and southern New Jersey. These include primary care offices and pediatric specialty care centers in Yardley, Pennsylvania, Northeast Philadelphia, East Falls, Pennsylvania, Reading, Pennsylvania and Washington Twp., Southern New Jersey.
The Pediatric Residency at St. Christopher's is top ranked. Each year St. Christopher's Hospital for Children receives thousands of applications to its Pediatric Residency Program from which 300 are selected to interview. From this group, St. Christopher's selects 24 PL-1 residents through the National Resident Matching Program.
Historic milestones
- 1940: established the nation’s first child life/play therapy program housed in a children’s medical center.
- 1968: the hospital performed its first open heart case.
- 1971: surgeons performed the Delaware ValleyDelaware ValleyThe Delaware Valley is a term used to refer to the valley where the Delaware River flows, along with the surrounding communities. This includes the metropolitan area centered on the city of Philadelphia. Such educational institutions as Delaware Valley Regional High School in Alexandria Township...
’s first pediatric kidney transplant. - 1987: performed the Delaware Valley’s first combined liver/kidney transplant.
- 1989: became the first hospital in the world to use oxygen-rich liquid ventilation to help premature newborns breathe.
- 1990: became the first hospital in the Delaware Valley to use electrical mapping to locate and remove a brain tumor in a pediatric patient.
- 1993: performed a heart transplant on the Delaware Valley’s youngest patient – a 4-day-old infant.
- 2005: St. Christopher’s Hospital celebrates 130 years of service.
- 2009: the hospital achieved Magnet status from the American Nurses Credentialing CenterAmerican Nurses Credentialing CenterThe American Nurses Credentialing Center , a subsidiary of the American Nurses Association , is a certification body for nursing board certification and the largest certification body for advanced practice registered nurses in the United States , currently certifying over 75,000 APRNs...
.
Clinical services and programs
St. Christopher's Hospital for Children offers health care services for children from birth through 21 years of age. Pediatric services include sub-specialties such as cardiology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, nephrology, neurology, pulmonary, oncology, and rheumatology. The hospital also provides pediatric surgical services such as cardiothoracic surgery, general surgery, neurosurgery, orthopaedic surgery, and plastic and reconstructive surgery.The hospital operates a Level I Pediatric Trauma Center, a Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and a pediatric burn center. Other services and programs include minimally invasive surgery, kidney transplantation, cystic fibrosis center, sickle cell anemia care and research center, AIDS/HIV program, sleep center and fetal evaluation center.