Deciding who and where to take your child for treatment are some of the most important decisions parents make. You want the best care and the best doctors to ensure the best outcomes for your child.

Shriners Hospitals for Children® is a health care system of 22 hospitals dedicated to improving the lives of children by providing pediatric specialty care, innovative research, and outstanding teaching programs for medical professionals. Children up to age 18 with orthopedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries, and cleft lip and palate are eligible for care and receive all services in a family-centered environment, regardless of the patients’ ability to pay.

Our staff believes in and practices a "family-centered care" approach to treatment. We believe the the family plays a vital role in a child's ability to overcome an illness or injury. Shriners Hospitals helps the family provide the support the child needs by involving the family in all aspects of care and recovery. The purpose of all Shriners Hospitals is to provide care for our children so they can lead fuller, more productive lives.

Leaders in Innovation

Shriners Hospitals established the first pediatric orthopaedic hospital in 1922 in Shreveport, La., and since then we've continued a tradition of discovering and addressing the special needs of children.

• Established the first pediatric burns hospitals, paving the way for other similar hospitals worldwide
• Established the first spinal cord injury units designed specifically for pediatric use
• Activated the first pediatric air ambulance, staffed with burn specialists, for the transportation of critically injured burn patients

Research

Shriners Hospitals' contributions to the medical community not only benefit our patients, but contribute to the overall knowledge for the care and treatment for a wide range of pediatric and adult conditions. Shriners researchers have played key roles in:
 

• Development of an engineered skin substitute for burn-injured patients
• Development of a nutritional formula that reduces infection and improves healing for pediatric burn patients
• Development of a biomaterial for tendon and ligament reconstruction
• Partner in discovery of genetic cause of juvenile Paget's disease (JPD)
• Collaborated in discovery of genetic causes for 10 inheritable bone diseases
• Treatment for osteogenesis imperfecta (also known as brittle bone disease)

Education

Shriners Hospitals is proud of its role in medical education. Over the past 20 years, over 8,000 physicians have received residency education or postgraduate fellowship at Shriners Hospitals. By maintaining relationships with over 60 medical teaching facilities worldwide, Shriners Hospitals fosters an academic environment committed to providing high-quality medical care to all patients.

While there are many elements to Shriners Hospitals for Children, there is only one purpose: to improve the lives of children.