Mission Statement

St. Louis Children’s Hospital will do what is right for children.

St. Louis Children’s Hospital will be the hallmark for quality pediatric care within our region, nationally, and internationally. As the flagship for a growing, integrated pediatric health-care network, we will lead the development of innovative, cost-effective approaches in prevention, primary care, and specialty services, with the ultimate goal of improving the health of all children.

Founded in 1879, St. Louis Children’s is one of the premier children’s hospitals in the United States, providing nationally ranked services to children in St. Louis and beyond. Together with our partners at Washington University School of Medicine (WashU Medicine) and BJC HealthCare, we are committed to improving the well-being of the communities we serve — shaping the future of child health through leadership, education, innovation and clinical excellence.

St. Louis Children’s Hospital by the numbers: (in 2023)

· 191,091 unique patients served

· 17,629 surgical procedures

· 50 organ transplants

· 2,398 trips made by the Transport Team

· 110 languages/dialects interpreted

· 20,439 children served through our community health programs

· 5 Healthy Kids Express mobile vehicles

· 7,369 students provided asthma and screening visits

· 2,402 virtual behavioral health therapy sessions provided for students

Impact

Dana Brown was a wonderful friend to St. Louis Children’s Hospital. His generosity extended after his passing through the Dana Brown Charitable Trust. His legacy begins with the construction of the Dana Brown Emergency Department and the subsequent funding for the Dana Brown Chair in Pediatric Emergency Medicine.

With almost 30 years of partnership, The Dana Brown Charitable Trust has invested significantly in meeting pediatric healthcare’s most immediate and pressing needs. In 2003, we purchased one of the first Mobile Intensive Care Units. This vital resource allowed the hospital’s Transport Team to bring sick children from around the region who needed specialized services to St. Louis Children’s Hospital.

Other funding included Operating Room #15, the Dana Brown Surgical Suite in 2013, and 30 pediatric ambulatory care units built during the hospital’s expansion in 2006. In 2016, support from The Dana Brown Charitable Trust helped purchase a brand new Mobile Intensive Care Unit to replace the original one purchased in 2003.

Over the last five years, support has focused on addressing our current national pediatric mental health crisis. In 2019, Dana Brown helped update and expand our Emergency Department, including constructing highly specialized spaces and a five-bed unit to keep children in crisis safe.

Most recently, in 2022, they helped us embark on our most significant community health effort — bringing behavioral health counseling and support directly to children within their schools through our School-Based Behavioral Health virtual program. Providing no-cost, barrier-free access to St. Louis Children’s Hospital mental health providers has helped to move the needle toward health equity.