The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) is a
children's hospital in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
, with its primary campus located in the
University City neighborhood of
West Philadelphia in the campus of the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
. The hospital has 594 beds
and more than 1 million outpatient and inpatient visits each year. It is one of the largest and oldest children's hospitals in the world, and United States' first hospital dedicated to the healthcare of children. CHOP has been ranked as the best children's hospital in the United States by ''
U.S. News & World Report'' and ''
Parents Magazine
''Parents'' was an American monthly magazine founded in 1926 that featured scientific information on child development geared to help parents in raising their children. Subscribers were notified of the magazine’s dissolution via a postcard maili ...
'' in recent years. As of 2020, it was ranked number one in the nation by U.S. News for three out of ten specialties. The hospital treats infants, children, teens, and young adults aged 0–21. The hospital also treats adults that would benefit from advanced pediatric care. The hospital is located next to the University of Pennsylvania and its physicians serve as the
pediatrics
Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until th ...
department of the
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
History
First hospital 1855–66
In 1855,
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
had a population of about 460,000, and recorded 10,507 deaths. Leading causes of death were
smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...
,
typhoid
Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several ...
, and
scarlet fever
Scarlet fever, also known as Scarlatina, is an infectious disease caused by ''Streptococcus pyogenes'' a Group A streptococcus (GAS). The infection is a type of Group A streptococcal infection (Group A strep). It most commonly affects childr ...
. In the worst month of 1855, 300 children under 12 years old died, primarily of
infectious disease
An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable dise ...
s. A Philadelphia physician, Dr. Francis West Lewis, inspired by a visit to the new
Great Ormond Street Hospital
Great Ormond Street Hospital (informally GOSH or Great Ormond Street, formerly the Hospital for Sick Children) is a children's hospital located in the Bloomsbury area of the London Borough of Camden, and a part of Great Ormond Street Hospital ...
for Sick Children in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
(founded 1852), enlisted Drs. T. Hewson Bache and R. A. F. Penrose Sr. to found the first
children's hospital in North America.
On November 23, 1855, the following small advertisement appeared in the ''
Philadelphia Public Ledger'':
The Children's Hospital—located on Blight Street, running from Pine to Lombard, below Broad, is now open for the reception of Patients. Children suffering from Acute Diseases and Accidents will be received free of charge. A dispensary, for sick children, is also attached to the Hospital and will be open at the same place every day, (Sundays excepted from 11 to 12 o'clock, when advice and medicine will be given free of charge.)
The first location of the original Children's Hospital was a small building on Blight Street (now Watts St). The hospital consisted of 12 beds and a
dispensary
A dispensary is an office in a school, hospital, industrial plant, or other organization that dispenses medications, medical supplies, and in some cases even medical and dental treatment. In a traditional dispensary set-up, a pharmacist dispen ...
. That year they recorded 67 inpatient admissions and 306 outpatient visits.
Second hospital 1866–1916
Children's Hospital was relocated to 22nd Street between Locust and Walnut Sts after the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
. This hospital consisted of 35 beds and a
dispensary
A dispensary is an office in a school, hospital, industrial plant, or other organization that dispenses medications, medical supplies, and in some cases even medical and dental treatment. In a traditional dispensary set-up, a pharmacist dispen ...
. The second hospital was the site of the first surgery at CHOP which was first performed by 1870. In addition, the first
resident
Resident may refer to:
People and functions
* Resident minister, a representative of a government in a foreign country
* Resident (medicine), a stage of postgraduate medical training
* Resident (pharmacy), a stage of postgraduate pharmaceutic ...
physician at CHOP was appointed in 1873 and formal medical teaching in medical and surgical clinics began in 1877.
Early on in CHOP's history, a long-term care ("convalescent") facility was opened as a County Branch near Overbrook. In 1899 the County Branch convalescent facility was closed and the program and patients transferred to the Seashore House near Atlantic City, New Jersey. CHOP later underwent an expansion and capacity was increased to 94 beds by 1892.
* A nursing school, the Ingersoll Training School, was opened in 1894.
* In 1900 the Catherwood Milk Laboratory was established.
* In 1914 the first Department for the Prevention of Disease in the nation was established.
Third hospital 1916–74
Construction adjacent to the second hospital began in 1913 and the first unit was opened in 1916 extending toward 18th and Bainbridge Streets.
In 1919 the hospital became affiliated with the
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. The affiliation became steadily closer over the next 17 years, with the Children's Hospital becoming identical to the pediatric department of the school of medicine, with most of the attending physicians appointed jointly to both institutions.
* In 1925 the hospital became affiliated with the Philadelphia Child Guidance Clinic.
* Whooping cough (
pertussis) vaccine was first developed.
* The first formal allocation of funds to research was recorded in 1937.
* The first closed incubator for newborns was used.
* The nursing school was disbanded in 1945 and converted into an affiliate training center.
* A six-story research building next to the hospital was dedicated in 1954.
* In 1962 under Dr.
C. Everett Koop
Charles Everett Koop (October 14, 1916 – February 25, 2013) was an American pediatric surgeon and public health administrator. He was a vice admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, and served as the 13th Surgeon Gen ...
(later to be
Surgeon General), the first
neonatal intensive care unit
A neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), also known as an intensive care nursery (ICN), is an intensive care unit (ICU) specializing in the care of ill or premature newborn infants. Neonatal refers to the first 28 days of life. Neonatal care, as kn ...
(NICU) in the nation was opened, along with a new neonatal surgical unit.
* In 1965 the first home care program for children was established.
* A Clinical Research Center under the auspices of the
National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...
was opened in 1965.
In 1967, after years of lobbying hospital physician and anesthesiologist, Dr. John Downes finally opened up a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) at CHOP, the first of its kind in the United States. Downes was inspired by pediatric and adult intensive care units in Europe and wanted to open a state-of-the-art unit in Philadelphia to care for the sickest of children. Before the creation of a PICU at CHOP, children who required advanced care were often cared for on the surgery wards and recovery rooms. Most of these children were cared for by anesthesiologists in the recovery room.
Fourth hospital 1974–present
Construction of the new hospital at a new site on the west side of the
Schuylkill River at 34th Street and Civic Center Boulevard, adjacent to the campus of the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
, was begun in 1969 and the first building was opened in 1974. This present Children's Hospital complex occupies part of the site of the old Philadelphia General Hospital and
Blockley Almshouse
The Blockley Almshouse, later known as Philadelphia General Hospital, was a charity hospital and poorhouse located in West Philadelphia. It originally opened in 1732/33 in a different part of the city as the Philadelphia Almshouse (not to be conf ...
.
* A helicopter transport system for critically ill and injured children was inaugurated in 1973.
Milestones and advances in pediatric care pioneered at CHOP include the first formal medical training in
pediatrics
Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until th ...
, techniques for the correction of
congenital heart malformations,
incubators for
newborn intensive care, home
ventilator care, and
vaccine
A vaccine is a biological Dosage form, preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious disease, infectious or cancer, malignant disease. The safety and effectiveness of vaccines has been widely studied and verifie ...
development.
In October 2006, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's trauma center was one of the receiving hospitals' for victims of the
West Nickel Mines School shooting
On October 2, 2006, a shooting occurred at the West Nickel Mines School, an Amish one-room schoolhouse in the Old Order Amish community of Nickel Mines, a village in Bart Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Gunman Charles Carl Roberts IV ...
, treating a few of the pediatric victims from the shooting who were medevaced to the hospital.
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia is in Philadelphia's University City neighborhood, and since 2001 has been undergoing a $1.5 billion expansion that has doubled the hospital's size, while also building more than one million square feet of new research and outpatient facilities on a large, eight-acre site south of the main hospital on Civic Center Boulevard. The South Campus expansion includes the eleven-story Colket Translational Research Building, which provides lab space for the Center for Childhood Cancer Research and the Center for Cellular and Molecular Therapeutics. The new South Campus also includes an underground parking garage and an ambulatory care building with outpatient services.
This South Campus expansion adjoins the University of Pennsylvania Health System's construction of the
Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine and Roberts Proton Therapy Center.
On July 1, 2015,
Madeline Bell, previously CHOP's president and chief operating officer, became president and chief executive officer. She succeeded Steven M. Altschuler, MD, who retired after 15 years as CEO. The board of trustees of Children's Hospital made the announcement on May 14. Later that year, in October 2015, the expansion of the Brandywine Valley Specialty Care and Ambulatory Surgery Center was opened. This is a 44,000-square-foot expansion.
In May 2020 amidst the
2020 COVID-19 pandemic CHOP started offering virtual pediatric urgent care visits to all children aged 0–21 throughout Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and Delaware regardless of if the child was a patient at the hospital or not.
Facilities
CHOP has 594 beds,
almost 40 percent of which are allocated to neonatal, cardiac, and pediatric intensive care. Each year the hospital admits more than 28,000 children and more than 1.167 million are seen in the emergency and outpatient departments.
Expansion plans
The hospital has developed an expansion plan that includes four buildings along Schuylkill Avenue, on the east side of the Schuylkill River. The first building, a tower called the Roberts Center for Pediatric Research, or the CHOP Research Tower, was built between 2015 and 2017 on the 700 block of Schuylkill Avenue, with an address of 2716 South Street.
Children's Seashore House
Children's Seashore House was founded in 1872 near
Atlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020, the city had a population of 38,497. , as a place for children to receive rehabilitation treatment. In 1990 the hospital moved to its current location next to CHOP and in 1998 it was acquired by CHOP. As of 1998, the hospital had 45 beds. It currently provides inpatient and outpatient care for children with developmental disabilities and chronic illnesses.
Buerger Center for Advanced Pediatric Care
In 2015, the Buerger Center for Advanced Pediatric Care opened and moved most outpatient services into the building. The addition is a 12-story, 700,000-square-foot building with a five-story, 1500-space underground parking garage directly attached. Composed of stacked forms and a selection of primary colors, the twelve-story building and six-story wing offer an interactive setting for treatment.
Middleman Family Pavilion
In June 2018, CHOP announced their plans to build a second children's hospital campus in
King of Prussia,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
. The hospital is planned to have a capacity of 52-beds, with expansion potential to 108-beds. In September, 2019 Swedish construction firm,
Skanska
Skanska AB () is a multinational construction and development company based in Sweden. Skanska is the fifth-largest construction company in the world according to ''Construction Global'' magazine. Notable Skanska projects include renovation of t ...
broke ground on the new building.
The hospital is expected to cost $298 million and consist of seven floors and 250,000 square feet. The new hospital will be built adjacent to where CHOP already operates a specialty care and outpatient surgery center. In the wake of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, CHOP officials released that they were considering adding beds to the shell space to total 108 beds.
The hospital opened on January 26, 2022.
On November 8, 2021 it was announced that CHOP had received a large donation from local businessman Stanley Middleman, provoking CHOP to name the new King of Prussia campus ''The Middleman Family Pavilion.''
The hospital has 52 total beds with shell space reserved for future expansion.
* 16 pediatric intensive care unit beds
* 36 medical surgical unit beds
* pediatric emergency department
Princeton Medical Center
Pediatric care to the Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center (PMC) is provided by doctors from the ''Children's Hospital of Philadelphia'' on PMC's inpatient pediatric wards, pediatric emergency department, and pediatric specialty care center. Adjacent to the medical center is the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Specialty Center that treats infants, children, adolescents, and young adults up to the age of 21.
Saint Peter's University Hospital
In addition to all of their outpatient centers, hospitals and primary care offices, CHOP also maintains an affiliation with the New Jersey-based, Saint Peter's University Hospital. All pediatric cardiac care at The Children's Hospital at Saint Peters is conducted from physicians affiliated with CHOP and complex cases are usually transferred to the hospital.
About
Services
CHOP has an Adolescent & Young Adult Oncology Program for adolescents and young adults up to 30 to have treatment for their cancers.
Seacrest Studios
Seacrest Studios (formerly known as The Voice) at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia is a closed-circuit radio station and multimedia center. The studio, located in the main lobby, provides young patients within The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia community with an outlet to engage in activities related to radio, TV and new media, ranging from broadcasting like a disc jockey and playing their favorite songs to watching live artists perform and interviewing celebrities.
The mission of Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's Media Programs and Seacrest Studios is building broadcast media centers, named Seacrest Studios, within the hospital to help in the healing process. Patients have access to radio, television and new media. Seacrest Studios opened in July 2011 and is the second media center to open after the completion of the first center November 2010 at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta in Georgia. Seacrest chose Children's Hospital of Philadelphia because it is a center of pediatric research and is focused on developing programs which enrich each patient's emotional well-being.
Seacrest Studios gives children the opportunity to conduct interviews with celebrities and watch live performances. The following Celebrities were guests of Seacrest Studios:
Selena Gomez (who was also named as ambassador to the foundation in April 2012),
CeeLo Green,
Carrie Underwood
Carrie Marie Underwood (born March 10, 1983) is an American singer. She rose to prominence after winning the fourth season of ''American Idol'' in 2005. Her single "Inside Your Heaven" made her the only country artist to debut atop the ''Bill ...
,
The Fray,
Adam Levine
Adam Noah Levine (; born March 18, 1979) is an American singer and songwriter. He serves as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the pop rock band Maroon 5. Levine began his musical career in 1994 with the band Kara's Flowers, of which ...
,
5 Seconds of Summer,
Taylor Swift
Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bor ...
,
Julianne Hough,
Jason Derulo
Jason Joel Desrouleaux (born September 21, 1989), known professionally as Jason Derulo (; formerly stylized as Derülo), is an American singer and songwriter. ,
the cast of The Maze
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in E ...
, Hot Chelle Rae, Philadelphia Mayor
Michael Nutter
Michael Anthony Nutter (born June 29, 1957) is an American politician who served as the 98th Mayor of Philadelphia. Elected on November 6, 2007, he was reelected to a second term on November 8, 2011. He is a previous member of the Philadelphia ...
, Florida Georgia Line, R5, Austin Mahone and Rixton.
Ronald McDonald House
The Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House was the first of the
Ronald McDonald House Charities and now stands at 39th and Chestnut Streets in
West Philadelphia. The House opened with the help of
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...
manager
Jimmy Murray and The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's Pediatric Oncologists Dr. Audrey Evans and Dr. Milton 'Mickey' Donaldson. In the early 1970s, Evans and Donaldson saw families spending night after night in the hospital while their children received medical care. She knew there had to be a better way and envisioned a house where families could stay. At the same time, the Philadelphia Eagles were fundraising in support of player
Fred Hill's daughter, Kim, who was battling
leukemia
Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...
. In 2006, the first Ronald McDonald Family Room was opened at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia in the Oncology Unit.
Awards
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia has consistently been ranked among the best hospitals for children by ''U.S. News & World Report''. A detailed ranking of pediatric facilities in the United States is printed in the publication's first stand-alone "America's Best Children's Hospitals" issue.
In 2020, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was ranked #2 nationwide and #1 in Pennsylvania in the U.S. News & World Report: Best Children's Hospital Ratings.
In 2021 the hospital was ranked as the #2 best children's hospital in the United States by U.S. News & World Report on the publications' honor roll list.
See also
*
Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House
The Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House was the first of the Ronald McDonald House Charities and now stands at 39th and Chestnut Streets in West Philadelphia.
History
On October 15, 1974 the first Ronald McDonald House opened at 4032 Spruce Street ...
*
Center for Applied Genomics at CHOP
*
Penn Genome Frontiers Institute
*
The Voice (CHOP)
References
External links
CHOP websiteAfter the Injury- Children's Hospital Of Philadelphia
{{authority control
Hospital buildings completed in 1916
Hospital buildings completed in 1974
Children's hospitals in the United States
Hospitals in Philadelphia
University of Pennsylvania
Hospitals established in 1855
Teaching hospitals in Pennsylvania
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
University City, Philadelphia
Pediatric trauma centers
1855 establishments in Pennsylvania