About Us & Info

Who Are We?

We are a not-for-profit, state-of-the-art children’s hospital on a 50-acre campus with a medical staff of more than 450 physicians. In California, we treat more inpatient cases than any pediatric hospital north of San Diego, making us the second largest children’s hospital in the state. Our 338-bed facility is one of the 10 largest hospitals of its type in the nation. 

We are the first children's hospital west of the Rockies to receive Magnet Nursing designation, the highest nursing benchmark in the world. We are accredited by the Joint Commission and we are proud to have been recognized by the LeapFrog Group with an award for Excellence in Patient Safety and Health Care Quality.

We perform more than 9,000 pediatric surgeries a year and our Pediatric and Neonatal Intensive Care Units have some of the lowest mortality rates in the country while treating some of the sickest kids.

Our Craycroft Cancer Center is a full member of the nationally-recognized Children’s Oncology Group (COG), and sees more than 100 new cases a year. Our Willson Heart Center has pioneered pediatric heart care for half a century.

 

Who are we? We are the premier pediatric medical center in the heart of the Golden State. We are Children’s Hospital Central California – amazing people, incredible care.

Our Mission

The mission of Children's Hospital Central California is to provide high quality, comprehensive health care services to children, regardless of their ability to pay.

Our Vision

Children's Hospital, with its physician partners, will be the pre-eminent provider of pediatric services for Central California and the Western United States, and an indisputable resource for healthcare solutions, information, and advocacy for children in an expanding pediatric market place.

Our Core Values

Excellence: We depend on exceptional people to provide exceptional quality health care and services throughout Children's Hospital. We set high standards and we support each other as we strive to achieve them. We invest in each other and we value the individual and cultural differences that make us strong. We are proud of our superior services as measured by quality outcomes.

Compassionate Care: We treat every child, every family, each other, our visitors, and our vendors with respect, kindness, hope, joy and good humor. We display our helpful, healing, family-centered spirit at every opportunity. We recognize the importance of playfulness in human interaction and in the health of children. We look for ways to ease suffering and provide comfort.

Integrity: We are honest, ethical and responsible in our work and in the way we deal with others. We keep our promises and admit our mistakes. We know ourselves and we avoid hidden agendas. By the way we live our lives everyday, we are worthy of the trust people place in us.

Innovation: We embrace change, creativity, continuous learning and personal growth. We incorporate new ideas, technology and methods to improve the health care and services we provide. We anticipate future trends and we create strategic plans to insure future growth and continued vitality.

Collaboration: We build enduring internal and external relationships, joining with colleagues across organizational boundaries to improve the care and services we provide. We encourage and reward both individual and team achievements. We put the common good ahead of narrow interests.

Stewardship: We are resourceful, adaptable and resilient. We have a "can do" attitude that gets the job done. We are fiscally responsible and efficient with our time. We protect our reserves and manage our operating costs in order to invest in our future. We are each personally dedicated to making Children's Hospital better because we were here.

Our History

Children's Hospital Central California began as the vision of five civic-minded women who saw the need for a dedicated pediatric hospital in Central California. Over 55 years later, Children's Hospital has grown to a 338-bed, nationally respected regional pediatric medical center on a 50-acre campus. See the timeline below to learn more about Children's history:

1949 - As the dream of a children's hospital in Central California started to become reality, fundraising wheels were set in motion and many hospital guilds were founded. The Llanada Guild donated $6,000 to the building effort in September.

1950 - A building fund campaign successfully raises $325,000.

1951 - Groundbreaking is held at the future site of Valley Children's Hospital. Later that year, the first medical equipment begins to arrive.

1952 - The Hospital is dedicated to the children of the Central Valley. An open house welcomes dignitaries and visitors to see their dream realized. A few weeks later, Valley Children's Hospital cares for its first patient.

1953-60 - As the Hospital continues to grow, an iron lung and electromyography are added for polio patients. A cardiac clinic is also opened, serving both adults and children.

Heart surgeons use the only cardioscope in the Valley to perform surgery in the Hospital's first-ever cardiac catheterization.

1961 - Hospital acquires a heart defibrillator.

The Intensive Newborn Service Center opens to care for premature infants.
In order to calm patients' fears and help them feel comfortable, the Hospital starts a program to take patients on pre-operative tours.

The first adult heart surgery is performed at Valley Children's.

1971 - A new intensive care unit for premature babies opened, followed shortly by a "preemie transport system". This specially equipped van brought premature infants to the Hospital from across the Valley.

1974 - First "bloodless" open-heart surgery performed.

1975 - The Hospital opens a 24-hour emergency room. To this day, it remains the only dedicated pediatric emergency room between San Francisco and Los Angeles.

1978 - In a first for Central California, doctors at Valley Children's separate conjoined twins.

1978-1980 - "AM Admissions" unit opens. Now known as Day Surgery, children could check in for surgery in the morning and be back at home that night.

Expansion groundbreaking occurs at the Hospital.

1980 - A newly remodeled intensive care unit opens.

Plans for a Ronald McDonald House progress.

Adult Cardiac unit closed to accommodate more pediatric programs.

1985 - Camp Sunshine Dreams – which gives kids with cancer and their siblings a chance to have a week away at summer camp – is born.

1990's - During the 90's one big story dominated coverage of Valley Children's Hospital – the move to a new, state-of-the-art facility in Madera County. Planning and building stretched over a decade.

1998 - At one minute past midnight on the last day of August, the move to the new facility begins.

2002 - Valley Children's officially changes its name to Children's Hospital Central California to better reflect the area it serves.

2004 - Children's Hospital is designated by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) as a Magnet Nursing hospital. This prestigious designation recognizes the highest levels of excellence in patient care through nursing services and is awarded to less than 3 percent of all hospitals in the United States. Excellent nursing is part of what makes this a great place to get better.

2007 – Children’s Hospital Central California admits more inpatients than any California pediatric hospital north of San Diego, making it the second largest children’s hospital in the Golden State.

Today- Fifty years later, the continuation of the dream of five women has become a bright, beautiful reality in the form of a regional medical center dedicated exclusively to the physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being of children. This new medical center is the cornerstone of a collaborative pediatric health delivery system that will provide a continuum of care to the children of Central California. As a tribute to our founders, Mrs. Agnes Crockett, Mrs. Gail Goodwin, Mrs. Helen (Maupin) Ross, Mrs. Carolyn Peck and Mrs. Patty Randall, the roads surrounding the Hospital bear their names.