Established: February 19, 1968
In the mid-1960s, the Shriners Imperial Council decided that the next challenge for its hospital system would be pediatric burns. It designated funds totaling $10 million dollars (the equivalent of over $70 million today) to build three hospitals specializing in pediatric burn care. After much consideration, Boston, Cincinnati and Galveston were chosen as sites because of strong teaching hospitals located in each city. An interim unit was established in 1964 at Cincinnati General Hospital. In 1968, the Cincinnati Shriners Hospital opened as the Shriners Burns Institute, in affiliation with what became the University of Cincinnati Hospital and the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.
Location Highlights
- 1968: Cincinnati Shriners Hospital opens as Shriners Burns Institute.
- 1970s: Cincinnati Shriners Hospital pioneered skin banking – a precursor to future methods of tissue, bone and skin procurement. Research also played a large role in the widespread use of pressure garments and other appliances to smooth and reduce scarring and improve esthetic appearance.
- 1980s: Cincinnati Shriners Hospital created school re-entry programs, which educate the patients' teachers and peers prior to returning to the classroom. The hospital also implemented an outpatient clinic and launched its own airborne transport team to more rapidly transport a child with burn injuries.
- 1990s: A new hospital building that included on-site accommodations for families, a floor for research and an expanded service line to include cleft lip and palate repair opened in 1992. In 1990, the hospital started Camp Ytiliba ("Ability" spelled backwards as a reflection of strength) to give children who have experienced trauma an opportunity to play and support one another without judgement.
- 2000s: The research team developed a process for growing skin from a child’s own cells, which could reduce the need to take grafts from uninjured areas of the body. Research also revealed the vital role of specialized, high-caloric nutrition in successful recovery from significant burns. The hospital also began accepting patients needing correction for nevus, port wine stains, congenital deformities, and other complex wound and skin disorders.
- 2010s: The hospital was awarded national designation as a Cleft Lip and Palate Team by two highly respected accreditation associations. Family-centered care became a part of the hospital’s strategic plan. Expansion of the family care units was completed, and same-day surgery programs were developed, allowing more children to heal at home.
- 2019: Shriners Hospitals for Children — Cincinnati announced it would relocate operations to Dayton, Ohio. Citing the drop in the number of children who suffer burns thanks to fire and burn prevention, Shriners said the new location would be the first "hospital-within-a-hospital" model in the system when it reopened inside Dayton Children's Hospital.
- February 2021 - The hospital reopened in a new location and under a new name: Shriners Children's Ohio.
