Valley Children's Hospital (VCH), formerly Children's Hospital Central California is a stand-alone, pediatric acute care

children's A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger ...

teaching hospital A teaching hospital is a hospital or medical centre that provides medical education and training to future and current health professionals. Teaching hospitals are almost always affiliated with one or more universities and are often co-located ...

located in

Madera County Madera County (), officially the County of Madera, is a county at the geographic center of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 156,255. The county seat is Madera. Madera County comprises the Madera, CA Metr ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. The hospital has 358 pediatric beds and is affiliated the

Stanford University School of Medicine Stanford University School of Medicine is the medical school of Stanford University and is located in Stanford, California. It traces its roots to the Medical Department of the University of the Pacific, founded in San Francisco in 1858. This ...

. The hospital is a member of Valley Children's Healthcare and is one of only two children's hospitals in the network, servicing approximately 1.3 million children and adolescents in their coverage area. The hospital provides comprehensive pediatric specialties and subspecialties to infants, children, teens, and young adults aged 0–21 throughout Madera County,

Fresno Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, maki ...

, and California. Valley Children's also sometimes treats adults that require pediatric care. Valley Children's also features the largest ACS verified Level 2 Pediatric Trauma Center in the region, the only Level IV NICU in the Central Valley, and the only provider of pediatric extracorporeal life support (ECLS) for their service area. Valley Children's is one of the largest providers of pediatric health services in California and in the country. The hospital is adjacent to the Ronald McDonald House of the Central Valley.

History

The organization was first founded on August 4, 1949, to help raise money to build a children's hospital. The hospital later opened in 1952. In 1971 the regional NICU originally opened with a capacity eight beds. The hospital opened their pediatric emergency department in 1975 to provide comprehensive pediatric emergency services to the region. In 2002 Valley Children's Hospital was renamed Children's Hospital Central California and then in 2014, they changed their name back to Valley Children's Hospital. In 2014 the hospital had 12,695 pediatric inpatient admissions and performed 12,265 pediatric surgeries. In June 2015, Valley Children's Healthcare announced a decision to separate from UCSF Fresno and instead partner with Stanford University for medical education and research. In 2018, the hospital was officially verified as a Level II pediatric trauma center by the

American College of Surgeons The American College of Surgeons is an educational association of surgeons created in 1913.American College of Surgeons Online "What is the American College of Surgeons?"/ref> See also *American College of Physicians The American College o ...

, making them the only pediatric trauma center in the region. In late 2019 it was announced that Valley Children's Hospital had partnered with Universal Health Services to build a new 128-bed pediatric behavioral health hospital. In early 2020, the hospital followed suit of hospitals all over the United States and implemented strict visitation protocols to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

About

The hospital provides a full range of pediatric specialties and subspecialties to infants, children, teens, and young adults aged 0–21 throughout the region through its main hospital and surrounding regions with its outpatient clinics. The hospital features a state and ACS verified level 2 pediatric trauma center for critically injured trauma patients and also features two helipads for critical care and trauma care transport. The hospital also features a state verified Level IV neonatal intensive care unit (highest possible) for critically ill neonatal patients.

Awards

The hospital has been designated as a Magnet hospital by the American Nurse Credentialing Center four times; 2004, 2008, 2014, and 2019. In 2018 the hospital ranked nationally in four specialties: neonatology, orthopedics, diabetes and endocrinology, and gastroenterology. In 2019 the hospital was one of two children's hospitals in California to earn "Top Children's Hospital" status from

The Leapfrog Group A Patient Safety Organization (PSO) is a group, institution, or association that improves medical care by reducing medical errors. Common functions of patient safety organizations are data collection and analysis, reporting, education, funding, ...

. The hospital was named as the 10th largest children's hospital in the United States by Becker's Hospital Review. As of 2021-22, Valley Children's Hospital has placed nationally in 7 ranked pediatric specialties on U.S. News & World Report.

Graduate Medical Education

Valley Children's Hospital serves as a training site for a variety of pediatric health professionals. Central Valley resident and fellow physicians in the fields of pediatrics, general surgery, anesthesia, emergency medicine, family medicine, critical care, and orthopedics routinely rotate through for their dedicated pediatric experience. While serving as a pediatric training site for resident physicians for over 40 years, Valley Children's hosted their inaugural class of pediatric resident physicians in 2017 and currently hosts 13 residents a year. Established in 1999, the pediatric pharmacy residency is a one-year post-graduate training program, accepting 4 pharmacy residents a year, with a focus on pediatric pharmacy practice.

Notable staff

Selma Calmes Selma Calmes (1940, ''née'' Harrison) is an anesthesiologist and co-founder of the Anesthesia History Association. Early life Calmes was born in Corregidor, an island in Manila Bay that is legally part of Cavite City, in 1940; however, her famil ...

, co-founder of the Anesthesia History Association

References

{{Authority control Children's hospitals in the United States Hospitals in California Hospital buildings completed in 1998 Hospitals established in 1952 Pediatric trauma centers