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Children's of Alabama is the only hospital in the state dedicated solely to the care and treatment of children and is one of the 10 busiest pediatric medical centers in the U.S. As one of only about 45 freestanding acute care hospitals of its kind in the nation, Children's  is home to Alabama's only Level I pediatric trauma center. It is licensed for 275 beds.  The Children's of Alabama campus includes the largest pediatric burn center in the Southeast, one of the largest pediatric outpatient centers in the country, and a leading pediatric hematology/oncology center and bone marrow transplant program. Although Children's is the primary site for pediatric clinical and educational programs within the UAB Health System, Children's is a private, not-for-profit hospital governed by a volunteer board of trustees. Children's, which experiences in excess of 600,000 outpatient and 14,000 inpatient visits each year, celebrated its centennial anniversary in 2011.


Children's is accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO). The hospital was recently recognized for the excellence of its nursing care by achieving Magnet designation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center.

The Children's Hospital of Alabama has been ranked among the nation's best children's hospitals by U.S. News & World Report magazine. This year for the first time the Children's Hospital of Alabama ("Children's") applied for consideration in the U.S. News & World Report's annual ranking of America's Best Children's Hospitals. Five of Children's pediatric specialty services were placed among the top 30 in the United States. Children's, UAB Health System and UAB's Departments of Pediatrics and Surgery collaborated to submit the requested information. Children's Hospital of Alabama is the primary site for UAB's pediatric clinical and educational programs.

The five pediatric specialty services included this year were Pediatric Neurosurgery and Neurology, Neonatology, Respiratory Services, Nephrology, and Orthopedics. The complete listing and corresponding rankings may be found at www.usnews.com/childrenshospitals.

Children's has recently completed a 750,000 square-foot, $399 million expansion facility on the health system's downtown Birmingham campus which has been named the Benjamin Russell Hospital for Children.