At The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, we are dedicated exclusively to the heathcare needs of children and their families. We've pursued our mission — to advance healthcare for children through integrating excellent patient care, innovative research and quality professional education into all of our programs — for more than 150 years.

Even diseases that are common to both children and adults may affect children differently.
The cancers that strike adults are generally not found in pediatric patients. Children are more likely to suffer from leukemias, brain tumors and other cancers that develop in growing tissues. Juvenile diabetes, for example, requires management that is different from the management needed when diabetes is diagnosed later in life, and AIDS often progresses more rapidly in children than in adults, although the virus is the same.

Children's treatment differs from that of adults.
Medications for adults are often too strong for children or detrimental to their growth and development. Diagnostic equipment must often be tailored to fit a child's smaller size, and children need support to cope with their disease or illness from those who are best able and trained to understand their growing minds and bodies.

For families, whether the care is basic or specialized, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's pediatric network provides the perfect fit for a child's special healthcare needs.