The foundation of the first pediatric hospital on the University campus in 1927 coincided closely with the formation of the Department of Pediatrics in 1930.
The Bobs Roberts Memorial Hospital, memorialized the life of Charles Radner Robert ('Bobs') Roberts, the 5-year-old son of a prominent Chicago family who died of a streptococcal infection. Over the subsequent 35 years, faculty of the Department established a national reputation for outstanding patient care and rigorous investigation consistent with the culture and vision for the broader University. In 1957, Albert Dorfman, the third Department Chair, initiated a formal affiliation with La Rabida Children’s Hospital with the goal of providing comprehensive care for children with complex disease with a particular focus on neurodevelopmental defects, a unique venture at that time, and typical of the innovation at the University of Chicago across generations.
With increasing need for, and sophistication of pediatrics care, the University of Chicago Hospitals, partnered with the University to establish a second expanded facility in 1967. Wyler Children's Hospital, endowed by Arma and Silvain Wyler, was the first children's hospital on the Southside of Chicago to provide comprehensive care to all children regardless of ethnicity or socio-economic status. Some of the many signal achievements include the first level IV neonatal intensive care unit on the Southside, the identification of the biochemical basis of Hurler syndrome, and the first pediatric bone marrow transplant in the region.
In 2003, the current hospital, University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children's Hospital opened. Endowed by the generosity of Gary Comer, a Southside native and entrepreneur who founded the Lands’ End retail corporation, it was conceived by Herb Abelson, the visionary 6th chair of the Department, to provide comprehensive pediatrics care and be the principal site for the delivery of care, training and research of the faculty in the Department of Pediatrics.
Since the opening of Comer Children’s, the Department has expanded its presence to numerous satellite sites of care across the region, deepened its relationships with regional healthcare partners to enhance its mission of exceptional clinical care, education and training, and continued to make significant contributions to the creation of new and impactful knowledge that is changing how we care for children with complex disease.
In January 2019, a collaborative partnership was established with Advocate NorthShore Pediatric Partners allowing our faculty, fellows and residents to join an initiative that will impact the care of the largest number of children in the state of Illinois with growing programs of care in Indiana and Wisconsin.
Today, like every day since our foundation, the Department’s faculty, trainees and staff have risen to the challenges and experienced the excitement of serving the children and families of community using approaches and strategies that are at the forefront of medicine.