Le Bonheur Children's Hospital

This article is about Le Bonheur Children's Hospital. For other similarly named hospitals, see Children's Hospital (disambiguation).

Le Bonheur Children's Hospital
Methodist Healthcare System
File:Le Bonheur Logo.jpg
Geography
Location	848 Adams Avenue, Memphis, Tennessee, United States
Organization
Care system	Private
Hospital type	Children's Hospital
Affiliated university	University of Tennessee Health Science Center
Services
Emergency department	Level 1 Regional Pediatric Trauma Center
Beds	255
History
Founded	1952
Links
Website	http://www.lebonheur.org/
Lists	Hospitals in Tennessee

Le Bonheur Children's Hospital is a 255-bed, tertiary care children's hospital located in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee. Le Bonheur has more than 700 medical staff representing 40 pediatric specialties. Approximately 170 patients per day are admitted, mostly from Tennessee and nearby states but also from around the world, mainly due to its nationally recognized brain tumor program, affiliation with St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and for being the home of the Children's Foundation Research Center.

Le Bonheur functions as the region's primary level 1 pediatric trauma center. The hospital cares for 14,000 patients every year, including about 81,000 visits to the emergency department a year and 8,800 surgeries per year. Le Bonheur also serves as a teaching hospital affiliated with the University of Tennessee Health Science Center and offers training in general pediatrics and pediatric sub-specialties. For the past couple of years the hospital has been recognized among the nation’s “Best Children’s Hospitals” by U.S. News and World Report.

History

Le Bonheur was founded in June 15, 1952 by the Le Bonheur Club, originally a women's sewing circle, and was originally an orphanage dedicated to caring for poor children. The Le Bonheur Club members raised all of the money for the initial investment for the hospital. When the doors opened, the Le Bonheur Club President, Mrs. Howard Pritchard, stated: "The doors of Le Bonheur will never be found closed and will forever hereafter be open to those who come in need, seeking its help." Since 1952, the medical center has gone through two major expansion projects.

In 1995, Le Bonheur became a part of the Methodist Healthcare System, which is supported by the Memphis, Mississippi and Arkansas conferences of The United Methodist Church. In February 2008, ground was broken on the new expansion by Le Bonheur executives. In December 2010, Le Bonheur Children's Hospital opened the emergency department in its newly renovated 12-story patient care tower. Le Bonheur maintains a fleet of two ambulances equipped for critical care transport.

Education

Le Bonheur is affiliated with the University of Tennessee Health Science Center and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. It offers training in general pediatric and several subspecialty areas of pediatrics. Over the past couple of years, Le Bonheur Children's Hospital has consistently been ranked among the nation's best by U.S. News and World Report in different specialties.

External links

• Le Bonheur Children's Hospital
• Children's Foundation Research Center
• University of Tennessee Health Science Center
• St. Jude Children's Research Hospital