Our History & Innovations
St. Christopher's Hospital for Children was founded in 1875, when it opened as a one-room dispensary for the mill workers' children of the Kensington area of Philadelphia. Today St. Christopher's provides cutting-edge medical services to children across the Greater Philadelphia area and has been at the forefront of many areas of pediatric medicine.
St. Christopher's continues to advance new pediatric treatments through research and innovation. Through affiliations with Drexel University College of Medicine and Temple University School of Medicine, St. Christopher's Hospital is a premier academic medical center that helps train the next generation of pediatricians.
The 189-bed Hospital provides routine pediatric care as well as care for many children with complex conditions. It is also a regional center for extremely specialized care. In order to make first-class pediatric care easily accessible, St. Christopher's has opened three pediatric primary care practices and five multispecialty care centers in the Philadelphia suburbs and throughout the Delaware Valley.
In 2009, St. Christopher's achieved Magnet® designation, which is one of the nation's highest forms of recognition for nursing excellence, and the Hospital and its medical professionals have received numerous awards for medical excellence, research and innovative practices in patient care.
Some of St. Christopher's accomplishments include:
| 2008 |
Department of Health accreditation for the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Diagnostic Center for children. South Jersey Magazine names 31 St. Chris physicians to its "Top Docs" listing. Neonatal staff hits perfection in two-year project that identified source of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) infections. |
| 2007 |
Maria Delivoria-Papadopoulos, MD, Chief, Division of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine received The Castle Connolly Medical Ltd. National Physician of the Year Award for Lifetime Achievement. Grand opening of the new 10-bed continuing care nursery and the new minimally invasive surgical suite. |
| 2006 |
Grand Opening of the Starlight Starbright Children’s Foundation and Hollywood Video Home Theater for patients. Groundbreaking for the newest Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children. |
| 2005 |
St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children celebrated 130 years of service and the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program created five panels of history. The Department of Radiology received accreditation for the Fellowship Program in Pediatric Radiology. The Respiratory Care Department was renewed and recognized as a "Quality Care Hospital" for the second year in a row. The Pathology Department received the Department of Laboratory Accreditation by the College of American Pathologists (CAP) for Anatomical Pathology, Immunohistochemistry, Electron Microscopy, Cytogenetics, Virology, Microbiology, Molecular Pathology, Hematology, Blood Banking and Point of Care Testing. The laboratory is the only pediatric hospital between Boston and Washington, DC to perform ciliary Ultrastructural (EM) evaluation for the Immotile Cilia Syndrome. St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children achieved continued accreditation with JCAHO following a successful site visit, which took place in August 2005. A $1.2 million grant established the hospital’s Grow Clinic. |
| 2004 |
In the year since St. Christopher’s began to collaborate with The Eagles Youth Partnership on the Eagles Eye Mobile, approximately 1,200 children were screened, and close to 800 of them required glasses. |
| 2003 |
The hospital received Regional Level 1 Pediatric Trauma center designation. The hospital was named for a third year in a row as one of the best pediatric hospitals in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. |
| 2002 |
The hospital was named for a second year in a row as one of the best pediatric hospitals in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. |
| 2001 |
The hospital was named one of the best pediatric hospitals in the nation according to U.S. News & World Report. The ECMO, Spasticity and Blood Conservation programs were established. |
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2000 |
The hospital celebrated its 125th anniversary and implemented the Gift of Life program. St. Christopher’s Pediatric Associates is also formed. |
| 1998 | St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children became part of Tenet Health System and the primary pediatric teaching facility for Drexel University College of Medicine. |
Please download a timeline of St. Christopher’s prior achievements.
You may also download a St. Chris Fact Sheet.
