A Brief History
Timeline and Milestones
On August 19, 1954, Rady Children's officially opened to receive its first 12 patients. Caring for a dozen patients may not seem that momentous, but in a town badly affected by the polio epidemic, Rady Children's was considered a godsend. Since then, nearly 2 million sick and injured children have been treated here.
Plans for our Hospital began in 1951 when the Board of the San Diego Society for Crippled Children initiated construction plans for a new children's hospital. In 1953, Rady Children's Hospital Auxiliary was formed and, later that year, groundbreaking took place. Here are some milestones we've experienced throughout the years:
1961: We expanded to 90 beds.
1963: The Child Development Clinic opens.
1965: The Speech and Hearing Clinic opens.
1972: We purchase St. Mary's Convalescent Hospital, now called the Helen Bernardy Center for Medically Fragile Children.
1973: Rady Children's Hospital Emergency Transport (CHET) begins.
1975: We expand to 103 beds.
1983: We open a surgical wing, the Jean Hahn Surgical Pavilion.
1984: Rady Children's is designated San Diego County's only Pediatric Trauma Center.
1985: We establish a center for child protection, now called the Chadwick Center for Children and Families.
1993: A new pavilion, now called the Rose Pavilion, opens, increasing our size to 220 beds. It includes the Sam S. and Rose Stein Emergency Care Center.
1995: The Jane and Norman Neely Rehabilitation Institute, the outcomes center (now called the Blair L. Sadler Center) and the Center for Healthier Communities for Children all open.
2001: UCSD, Rady Children's and Children's Specialists of San Diego formalize their partnership to unify pediatric patient care, research, education and community service programs. Read more.
2004: We expand to 248 beds.
2006: Thanks to the extraordinary generosity of the Rady Family, we official become Rady Children's Hospital-San Diego.
2009: Rady Children's, now a 261-bed facility, is honored by U.S. News & World Report with six specialities ranked in the top 30.
2010: Our new Acute Care Pavilion opens.
2011: Rady Children's, now a 442-bed facility, is ranked among the nation's best by U.S. News & World Report in all 10 specialties surveyed.
In This Section
Our Acute Care Pavilion, which opened Oct. 10, 2010, is a place of hope and healing for our community's children.