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Children's Orthopedic Hospital is founded in Seattle on January 4, 1907.
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On January 4, 1907, Anna Herr Clise (1866-1936) and 23 of her affluent Seattle women friends come together to found the Children's Orthopedic Hospital Association. They do so to address a health care crisis -- namely the lack of a facility to treat crippled and malnourished children. Each of the women contributes $20 to launch the hospital, which is incorporated on January 7. The Seattle Children's Hospital will become a major regional medical center.
Anna Clise had become painfully aware of the inadequacy of facilities for treating children when her 5-year-old son, Willis, died of inflammatory rheumatism in 1898. No physician or hospital in Seattle specialized in pediatric care at the time.
In October 1907, the Board of Trustees adopted a policy to accept any child regardless of race, religion, or the parents' ability to pay.
The hospital started out in a wing of the Seattle General Hospital. In 1908, the hospital moved to a 12-bed cottage on Queen Anne Hill. In 1911, a 40-bed facility opened on an adjacent site. In 1953 the hospital moved to the Laurelhurst neighborhood of Seattle.
Now a major Northwest institution, Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center is still (in 2002) governed by an all-female board of trustees that entrusts medical decisions to professional staff.
Sources:
HistoryLink.org, The Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History, "Children's Orthopedic Hospital," (by Mildred Andrews), http://www.historylink.org/; Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center Website (http://www.seattlechildrens.org).
Note: This essay was corrected on October 22, 2003, and updated on May 5, 2011.
By Mildred Andrews, July 30, 2001
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