Le Bonheur Children's Hospital is a 255-bed, tertiary care

children's hospital A children's hospital (CH) is a hospital that offers its services exclusively to infants, children, adolescents, and young adults from birth up to until age 18, and through age 21 and older in the United States. In certain special cases, the ...

located in

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Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

. Le Bonheur has more than 700 medical staff representing 40 pediatric specialties. Approximately 170 patients per day are admitted, mostly from

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

and nearby states but also from around the world, mainly due to its nationally recognized

brain tumor A brain tumor (sometimes referred to as brain cancer) occurs when a group of cells within the Human brain, brain turn cancerous and grow out of control, creating a mass. There are two main types of tumors: malignant (cancerous) tumors and benign ...

program, affiliation with St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and for being the home of the Children's Foundation Research Center. The hospital treats infants, children, teens, and young adults aged 0–21. Le Bonheur functions as the region's primary level 1 pediatric trauma center. The hospital cares for 14,000 patients every year, including about 81,000 visits to the emergency department a year and 8,800 surgeries per year. Le Bonheur also serves as a teaching hospital affiliated with the University of Tennessee Health Science Center and offers training in general

pediatrics Pediatrics (American English) also spelled paediatrics (British English), is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, Adolescence, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, pediatrics covers many o ...

and pediatric subspecialties.

History

Le Bonheur was founded on June 15, 1952, by the Le Bonheur Club, originally a women's sewing circle, and was originally an

orphanage An orphanage is a residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared by their biological families. The parents may be deceased, absent, or abusi ...

dedicated to caring for poor children. The Le Bonheur Club members raised all of the money for the initial investment for the hospital. When the doors opened, the Le Bonheur Club President, Mrs. Howard Pritchard, stated: "The doors of Le Bonheur will never be found closed and will forever hereafter be open to those who come in need, seeking its help." The medical center has gone through two major expansion projects. When

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

first hit

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

in August 2005, Le Bonheur (along with other hospitals) sent helicopters to Tulane Medical Center, Ochsner, and CHNOLA in order to help evacuate pediatric patients from the hospital. In February 2008, ground was broken on the new expansion by Le Bonheur executives. In December 2010, Le Bonheur Children's Hospital opened the emergency department in its newly renovated 12-story patient care tower. Le Bonheur maintains two ambulances equipped for critical care transport.

Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare

In 1995, Le Bonheur became a part of the Methodist Healthcare System, supported by the Memphis, Mississippi and Arkansas conferences of The

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant Christian denomination, denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was ...

. The system includes Methodist University Hospital in Memphis and Methodist Olive Branch hospital in Mississippi. The impetus that led to creation of the Methodist LeBonheur Healthcare System occurred in 1918 when a Mississippi farmer named John Sherard visited a sick pastor.

Education

Le Bonheur is affiliated with the University of Tennessee Health Science Center and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. It offers training in general pediatrics and several subspecialty areas of pediatrics. Le Bonheur Children's Hospital has been ranked among the nation's best by U.S. News & World Report in different specialties.

References

External links

Le Bonheur Children's Hospital

Children's Foundation Research Center

University of Tennessee Health Science Center

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
{{authority control Hospital buildings completed in 1952 Children's hospitals in the United States Hospitals in Memphis, Tennessee Teaching hospitals in Tennessee Pediatric trauma centers Hospitals established in 1952