Our Cause

About Shriners Children’s

Shriners Children’s^® is a unique health care system with a reputation for finding answers and giving families hope. At our locations in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, children receive excellent care for orthopedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries, and cleft lip and palate, regardless of the families’ ability to pay or insurance status. Since opening our first hospital in 1922, the health care system has improved the lives of more than 1.4 million children.

For most of its history, the healthcare system has been known as Shriners Hospitals for Children. To adapt to current nationwide trends in health care, especially the emphasis on outpatient care, and some locations becoming clinics or outpatient centers, the phrase “Shriners Children’s” was introduced. It is shorter and more definitive – clearly stating who Shriner’s Children’s is and what they care about.

The primary mission of Shriners Children’s is to help children who need specialized medical care – wherever they may live. In order to treat more kids in more places, Shriners Children’s offers a range of services to expand our reach, including telehealth and outreach clinics. Although our locations are primarily in North America, our compassionate healthcare system has treated children from many countries, and conducts several medical outreach clinics outside the U.S. every year.

What Makes Us Different

At Shriners Children’s, children are our priority, and each patient receives the time and attention they deserve. Once under our care, families struggling with complex medical issues discover they are not alone; they are surrounded by hope, compassion and confidence. We know that when you give a family hope, everything changes. Our goal is to help our patients understand that there are no limitations to what they can accomplish, and that they are not defined by any challenges they may face.

A Tradition of Providing State-of-the-Art Specialty Care

Our pediatric care teams have been led by some of the most innovative doctors in the world, which has been the case for nearly 100 years.

In the 1920s, the first Shriners Hospital was opened primarily to help children who had contracted polio. Today, the majority of our locations provide care for children with all types of orthopedic conditions, including clubfoot, hip disorders, limb deficiencies and deformities, scoliosis, and orthopedic difficulties related to cerebral palsy and other neuromuscular conditions.

Aware of a need for medical expertise in pediatric burn care, we opened three hospitals specializing in acute and rehabilitative burn care in the mid-1960s. These are the only hospitals that were initially established exclusively for the treatment of pediatric burns and related conditions. A fourth hospital in our healthcare system offers treatment in all four of our care disciplines, including burns. These hospitals continue to be pioneers in pediatric burn treatment and research, and are recognized as leaders in the development of improved and innovative treatment techniques.

In the early 1980s, our organization began the nation’s first pediatric spinal cord injury rehabilitation programs. These initiatives offer patients a complete range of services that help promote recovery to the fullest extent possible.

Cleft lip and palate is the healthcare system’s fourth service line. Facial clefts are one of the most common birth defects in the U.S. Despite the frequency of its occurrence and the severity of the deformities, comprehensive care for patients with cleft lip and palate can be difficult to obtain. Shriners Children’s is committed to improving care for children with this condition through a coordinated program of clinical excellence, teaching and research.

Groundbreaking Research and Discoveries

Shriners Children’s strives to discover answers that will improve lives by conducting high-quality, innovative research, especially in the areas of burns, orthopedic/musculoskeletal and neurological injury and disease.

Over time, our researchers have made significant breakthroughs in all four of our service lines, improving the care and quality of life for countless children worldwide, while adding to the global body of medical knowledge.

Educating the Healthcare Professionals of Tomorrow

We are also proud of our role in medical education. By maintaining relationships with several medical teaching facilities, Shriners Children’s fosters an academic environment committed to providing superior education for medical professionals and quality care to all patients.

For more information about Shriners Children’s, and the care offered at each of our locations, please visit shrinerschildrens.org.