Our History

Early 20th Century

In the early years of the 20th century, as many as 15 babies were dying daily from dehydration caused by malnutrition and diarrhea. This was at a time when parents knew little about nutrition and good sanitation. Well-meaning mothers were feeding their babies raw eggs, unrefrigerated milk and table food. The Dallas Graduate Nurses Association decided something needed to be done to treat the infants and to teach mothers about infant digestive systems and the importance of good hygiene.

Baby Camp Launches

With the assistance of the community and three volunteer physicians, the nurses launched the first free “baby camp” in the Southwest, an open-air tent hospital dedicated to the care of babies from poor families.

Four Tents in the Parkland Hospital Lawn

The Dallas Baby Camp consisted of four tents under shade trees on the lawn of what would soon become Parkland Hospital. Three tents housed administration, a kitchen and nurses’ sleeping quarters. In the fourth were eight infant sleeping baskets. Two additional cribs, their legs in kerosene-filled tomato cans to discourage ants, sat in the open air to help newborns avoid jaundice.

Dallas Baby Camp Moves Into a Cottage

The Dallas Baby Camp proved so successful its first summer that the tents were replaced the next year with a cottage built by the city of Dallas. But it wasn’t enough for Nurse Smith, who was determined that the baby camp would become a children’s hospital. She wrote her vision on a chalkboard: “Someday the Dallas Baby Camp will be a great hospital. Watch us grow!” Viewed with skepticism, her message was erased on several occasions by a camp physician, always to be written again by Nurse Smith.

The Presbyterian Clinic - Free Outpatient Care for Poor Children

The camp brought attention to a big problem: the lack of adequate health care for poor children of all ages. Others began joining the effort to resolve the situation. A chance meeting in 1921 between a local pediatrician and the pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Dallas resulted in the establishment of the Presbyterian Clinic. Located in the basement of the church, it was the first free children’s clinic in the Southwest not associated with a hospital.

Richmond Freeman Memorial Clinic for Infants and Children

The Richmond Freeman Memorial Clinic for Infants and Children, though always an outpatient facility, had operating rooms, X-rays, lab and dental equipment that provided an array of services for children up to the age of 15.

New Building Completed

Soon after Dallas businessman Percy Freeman’s son died, the elder Freeman donated money in his son’s memory for land and a permanent building to house the Presbyterian Clinic. The clinic moved into the newly completed building in 1924.

Local Dentist Juanita Wade

Also at Presbyterian Clinic, local dentist Juanita Wade initially provided free emergency dental services. In 1928, Harold Younger established a dental clinic at Freeman that was funded by the Dallas Kiwanis Club for more than 20 years.

The Bradford Family

In 1929, Dallas entrepreneur Thomas L. Bradford Sr. would donate enough money to make May Smith’s dream come true: the construction of a real hospital just for babies. May Smith previously cared for Bradford’s daughter Elizabeth when she was a child. Elizabeth adored Nurse Smith and loved taking babies at the camp for rides in her wagon. After both Elizabeth and her mother died, Bradford donated land and money to build a permanent facility for the cause his daughter loved. Descendants of the Bradford family support Children’s to this day.

The Great Depression

During the Great Depression, finding funding to keep the doors open at the Freeman Clinic and Bradford Hospital was challenging. Dallas community members came up with several innovative fundraisers, including two events at the fairgrounds: a charity horse show that benefited the Freeman Clinic and an admission-only “display” of incubator babies under the care of Bradford physicians.

"Kid, you win"

When the 60-bed Bradford Memorial Hospital for Babies opened in 1930, that skeptical doctor who kept erasing Nurse Smith’s chalkboard message sent her a note that read, “Kid, you win.”

UT Southwestern Medical School

Doctors and nurses required special training in the health care needs of children. Nurses began rotations through the baby camp, as did medical students from Baylor College of Medicine. Later, medical students from Southwestern Medical College, the forerunner of UT Southwestern Medical School, also trained at Bradford and Freeman. The dental clinic at Freeman earned national recognition for its pediatric dental internship program, started in 1935 by Drs. Younger and Taylor, both of Baylor College of Dentistry.

Launch of Cardiac Clinic at Freeman

In the 1930s, Dr. Gladys Fashena was among a few women physicians in Dallas. In 1939 she launched a cardiac clinic at Freeman. According to Dr. Fashena, the doctors of that day “had aspirin, diuretics, prayer, transfusions – and little else.”

Children's Hospital of Texas

Even after the opening of Bradford Hospital and the Freeman Clinic, there was still no facility for older children in need of hospitalization. Though fundraising for such a hospital had begun in 1924, the stock market crash of 1929 and the Great Depression greatly hampered the efforts. Through the perseverance of the community, Children’s Hospital of Texas finally opened in 1940. The new hospital was located adjacent to the Freeman Clinic on land deeded by the Freeman family.  

First Corrective Heart Surgery on an Infant

While the building of Children's Hospital of Texas was under way as a place just for children, new medical procedures were also advancing. In 1941, Dr. J. Warner Duckett performed the first corrective heart surgery on an infant at Children’s.

Consolidated Hospitals

By the mid-1940s, health care leaders, clinicians and community supporters recognized that children would be better served if providers consolidated some functions. In 1944, Bradford, Freeman and Texas Children’s (renamed Children’s Hospital of Texas) aligned their patient and financial reporting systems.

In 1947, Children’s Medical Center was incorporated as the operating entity for the three facilities, and a year later, an administrator was hired.

"Blue Baby" Sickness

In 1945, Dr. Duckett learned about a heart procedure that relieved many of the symptoms of a condition known as “blue baby” sickness, which causes skin to look blue due to a lack of oxygenated blood. During the next decade, Children’s Hospital of Texas became famous for treating these infants.

Ivor O’Connor Morgan Hospital

Mrs. Morgan, for whom the Ivor O’Connor Morgan Hospital was named, willed $1 million for a facility for treatment, prevention and research on tuberculosis in children.

The Seay Family

Dallas philanthropists Charles and Sarah Seay played key roles in the success of Children’s. The Seays’ first contribution in the 1950s totaled half of the fundraising goal necessary to build an intensive care unit. Later, their generosity resulted in the first area psychiatric facility for children and funded emergency care services.

New Stand-Alone Children's Medical Center

By the 1950s, a study recommending a stand-alone children’s hospital had been endorsed by the Children’s operating and member boards. In 1954, the medical staffs of all four entities aligned under one chief of staff. Soon talks were under way about building a new medical center that would house Bradford, Freeman, Children’s Hospital of Texas and Ivor O’Connor.

Children's Medical Center Moves Near UTSW

In 1961, a decision was made that Children’s would move to land adjacent to UT Southwestern Medical School and serve as its pediatric teaching hospital. This decision set the stage for Children’s to become a nationally recognized pediatric academic medical center focused on patient care, research, teaching and community outreach.

Initial Capital Campaign

The Dallas community responded quickly and positively to the idea of a new children’s hospital. The capital campaign received pledges totaling 94.4% of the $2.5 million goal within a month of the campaign’s launch. By January of 1962, contributions exceeded $2.7 million.

Children's Medical Center Formal Dedication

On July 30, 1967, the new Children’s Medical Center was formally dedicated. The first two floors of the new building were designated the Freeman Clinic and most of the third floor was called Bradford Hospital, with a portion designated the Ivor O’Connor Wing. The fourth floor would be known as the R.B. George and Cleo George Hospital (formerly Children’s Hospital of Texas). Most, of course, simply referred to it by the name “Children’s.”

Children’s Medical Center included 130 beds, an operating room for heart patients, an 18-bed mental health unit and extensive lab space. With air conditioning, elevators, an emergency power system, a supply conveyor system and pneumatic tubes designed to streamline communications, the five-story medical center was declared a “modern wonder” by local media.

Pediatric Day Surgery Program

The nation’s first pediatric day surgery program began at Children’s in 1968. Annual treatments in the program tripled within the first 10 years.

An Academic Medical Center

To meet the needs of an increasingly complex patient population, Children’s transformed itself during the 1970s from a community hospital to an academic medical center focused on excellence across a spectrum of pediatric health care specialties and professional disciplines. In collaboration with UT Southwestern, the medical center expanded its physician training program, increasing the number of residents and specialty rotations.

"A Modern Wonder"

Discoveries at Children’s and UT Southwestern in the 1970s led to changes in the treatment of children with infectious diseases. Dr. John D. Nelson had started a pediatric infectious disease program in 1959 at the Bradford Hospital, one of only four in the nation at the time. Today, this program is recognized for establishing a worldwide standard of care for these children.

Low Birth Weight Clinic Established

In the 1970s, more than 10% of premature infants died before their first birthday. Many were hospitalized during their first year. In 1979, Children’s started the Low Birth Weight Clinic to provide comprehensive care for very small infants and those born with chronic conditions.

Expansion Campaign

In 1979, the medical center launched an ambitious $10 million capital campaign to increase the number of beds, add a transport service and outpatient space. The project’s scope grew to include centers for hemophiliacs and epilepsy patients, new outpatient facilities for kids with heart problems, more space for day surgery and dialysis, and a new pulmonary lab. The $17 million hospital expansion was completed in 1984, with the transport team forming in 1989. It later became certified in ground, helicopter and fixed wing.

First Kidney Transplant

Children’s celebrated the fifth anniversary of its first kidney transplant in 1980 with a reunion for transplant patients.

First Liver Transplant  

In 1984, 2-year-old Melissa Lively became the first child in Texas to receive a transplanted liver. The program at Children’s – the first pediatric-only liver transplant program in the nation – was established in collaboration with UT Southwestern using a grant from the Crystal Charity Ball. Today, Children’s has one of the busiest organ transplant programs in the country.

General Clinical Research Center Launch

Most federal research dollars are used to study adult medical conditions. In 1987, Children’s and UT Southwestern launched the pediatric General Clinical Research Center (GCRC) to encourage research into treatments and cures for childhood diseases. At the time, the GCRC was one of only 14 pediatric research centers in the nation recognized by the National Institutes of Health.

75th Anniversary

Children's celebrated its 75th anniversary in 1988 with the launch of a $15 million Diamond Jubilee Capital Campaign. Proceeds from the campaign, raised in part through the efforts of the medical center’s new fundraising arm, the Children’s Medical Foundation of Texas, partially funded a 72-bed inpatient tower, a pediatric intensive care unit, enhanced emergency facilities, additional laboratories and other support services.

Explosive Growth

As the 21st century approached, North Texas began experiencing explosive growth. Children’s realigned its resources and mission to care for kids in the best way possible – sometimes at the Dallas campus, other times through facilities closer to patients’ homes. The medical center opened several suburban specialty clinics, as well as a number of area medical offices designed to provide primary care to children without ready access to pediatricians.The Children’s “right care, right place, right time” approach to health care called for the main campus to enhance its focus on providing acute and specialty care. UT Southwestern’s reputation for excellence helped attract many talented young physicians, pediatricians, scientists and other pediatric subspecialists during the 1990s, providing breadth and depth in a wide range of specialties.

Charles E. and Sarah M. Seay Emergency Referral Center

Until the 1990s, children needing emergency care were treated with adults at other area hospitals. In 1991, the Charles E. and Sarah M. Seay Emergency Referral Center opened at Children’s. The center expanded a few years later to include a broader age group of children with severe traumatic injuries.

Beyond ABC Report

In 1996, Children’s championed a report on the health and welfare of children in Dallas County. Beyond ABC: Growing Up in Dallas County included important statistical benchmarks that provided information to local governments and community organizations wanting to improve the lives of area children. The report, underwritten by Children’s, continues to be published in multiple counties.

First Pediatric Picture Archiving and Communication System

In 1998, Children’s becomes one of the first pediatric hospitals in the nation to implement the Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) in radiology. The system allows doctors to view patient images on a computer instead of film.

Separation of Egyptian Conjoined Twins

Recognition for Children’s intensified during this decade. One of the most memorable was in 2003, when doctors at Children’s separated conjoined Egyptian twins.

UTSW Sickle Cell Recognition

Also in 2003, Children’s and UT Southwestern reached the zenith of national recognition in the treatment of sickle cell anemia by being designated by the National Institutes of Health as one of only 10 Comprehensive Sickle Cell Centers in the United States. Sickle cell anemia is a genetic abnormality of the blood that can cause a host of health issues.

$5 Million Caruth Foundation Endowment

The medical center’s position as a leading pediatric research hospital was strengthened in 2004, when a $5 million endowment provided by the Caruth Foundation established the W.W. Caruth Jr. Center for Pediatric Translational Clinical Research. Translational research seeks to convert important lab discoveries into new treatments for patients. The center, a perpetual source of seed funding for pediatric translational research, is a boon to sick children.

Level I Trauma Center Designation

In 2005, Children’s became the only pediatric hospital in Texas to be recognized for the highest level of emergency care achieving Trauma Level I designation.

Children's Medical Center Plano

During the early 2000s, increasing numbers of children from Dallas’ northern suburbs made the long drive to Children’s for care. The medical center’s board approved the construction of a second hospital in the suburb of Plano, a bold move in keeping with the hospital’s “right care, right place, right time” strategic priority. Children’s Medical Center Plano, which includes inpatient beds, outpatient services, an ICU, an emergency room and surgical services, opened in 2008.

The Gold Standard for Nursing Excellence

Patients and their families have long praised Children’s nurses for the quality of their care. In 2009, the American Nurses Credentialing Center awarded the Children’s nursing staff Magnet® designation, the gold standard for nursing excellence. Less than 6% of U.S. hospitals had nursing Magnet designations in 2009.

Children’s Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern

In 2012, the Children’s Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern opened with the vision of building a premier biomedical research program focused on transformational discoveries leading to new treatments and therapies. Funded by Children’s with the support of the community, the Children’s Research Institute benefits from the outstanding research resources at UT Southwestern. Ultimately, it will involve 150 world-class scientists pursuing discoveries related to the prevention, treatment and cure of cancer, birth defects and metabolic diseases.

The Hamon Charitable Foundation, established by legendary Dallas oilman Jake Hamon and his wife, Nancy, made a $10 million lead gift to the Children’s Research Institute. In the spirit of Texas wildcatting, this transformational gift served as the foundation for a $200 million endowment to support “game-changing” pediatric research.

Significant Contribution to Regional Economy

In addition to filling a critical niche in the area’s medical care, Children’s Medical Center is a significant contributor to the regional economy. We are a leading employer, and our operations and building expansions, combined with the spending impact of people who visit the hospital, added more than $1 billion to the regional economy during the past decade.

Children's Medical Center Becomes Children's Health

In 2014, Children’s Medical Center expanded to become Children’s Health, an integrated health care system that includes two academic medical centers, multiple specialty centers and pediatric groups, and a comprehensive network of community and faith-based partnerships united to support the health and wellness of children in North Texas. As a health care system, we’re able to reach more children in more places to deliver care in more ways than ever before. From the routine to the rare, Children’s Health is by your side with services ranging from regular check-ups and vaccinations to the specialized care required when an emergency or serious illness occurs.

Children’s Health Children’s Medical Center Dallas remains the flagship of the system. Together with Children’s Health Children’s Medical Center Plano, the two full-service hospitals are at the center of a hub-and-spoke system that extends care into the community, reaching and caring for more children with wellness services to ensure they remain healthy and active.