City of Chicago declares June 9 Lurie Children’s Day in honor of hospital’s 140-year anniversary

Mayor Lightfoot and the City Council of the City of Chicago issued a proclamation on May 23, 2022, declaring June 9 Lurie Children’s Day, in celebration of the hospital’s 140-year anniversary of transforming children’s health in Chicago and beyond.

Founded in 1882 as the Maurice Porter Memorial Hospital, and renamed Children’s Memorial Hospital in 1903, the hospital changed its name again to Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago when it moved on June 9, 2012, to its current state-of-the-art facility in Streeterville.

“When Julia Foster Porter originally opened the hospital as an eight-bed cottage in Lincoln Park, it was the first children’s hospital in Illinois,” said Thomas Shanley, MD, President & CEO of Lurie Children’s. “Her vision was to care for sick children irrespective of race, creed and ability to pay. This is the foundation of our current mission, which has evolved beyond exceptional patient care to include groundbreaking research, inspiring education, and relentless advocacy. This mission continues to motivate us each day to achieve excellence in all these domains, so that every child has an opportunity for a healthier future.”

Lurie Children’s remains Illinois’ only freestanding, not-for-profit children’s hospital. It provides top-quality clinical care and generates discovery in pediatric medicine and science as well as serves as a safety net by providing comprehensive pediatric care to children in need of lifesaving services. It has been consistently ranked as one of the nation’s top children’s hospitals by U.S. News & World Report since that reports’ inception.

Last year, the institution provided $231 million in unreimbursed charity care, under-reimbursement from caring for patients insured by Medicaid, and community benefit programs. Through its Patrick M. Magoon Institute for Healthy Communities, Lurie Children’s provides under-resourced Chicago neighborhoods with access to essential healthcare and promotes safety and well-being for all children.

Research at Lurie Children’s is conducted through Stanley Manne Children’s Research Institute, which is focused on improving child health and advancing pediatric medicine through basic and translational science, clinical research and community-based studies. Lurie Children’s is also the pediatric training ground for Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, offering some of the most sought-after pediatric residency and fellowship programs in the country.