Since its founding in 1892, the Women & Children’s Hospital of Buffalo has been devoted to providing the ultimate in pediatric and maternal health care. As a regional referral center and one of only three pediatric hospitals in the United States with a maternity unit, WCHOB provides unique patient care to the eight-county Western New York area.

The hospital serves more than 28,000 inpatients annually, and more than 150,000 outpatients visit the emergency department or one of the 45 specialty clinics each year. Virtually all medical and surgical problems of infants, children, and adolescents are available for resident education programs.

WCHOB has a long history of commitment to tertiary and primary care pediatrics. Associated with this commitment, the hospital also has a history of innovative research, much of which has practical applications that measurably improve the quality of life of children. Past and ongoing efforts include:

• The development of the Guthrie screening test for PKU.

• Clinical testing of exogenous calf lung surfactant in premature infants.

• First clinical trials with nitric oxide ventilation.

• First studies of the use of liquid ventilation for pulmonary oxygen delivery.

• Use of ECMO in the care of critically ill children.

The hospital offers a wide range of advanced care, from its designated Level 3 regional intensive care nursery – staffed by a dedicated transport team, respiratory therapists, and specially trained nurses – to its division of maternal-fetal medicine, which treats patients before they are born. The hospital also offers extensive outpatient care, including genetic diagnostic and counseling services, chronic disease clinics, child and adolescent psychiatric services, and a world-renowned rehabilitation clinic.

Included in the hospital’s 313 beds are 67 maternity beds. Its maternity and high-risk maternity programs are complemented by its intensive care nursery, which cares for nearly 1,000 critically ill full-term and premature newborns annually – many of them weighing as little as one to two pounds. Children’s Hospital has one of the highest rates of survival for premature neonates in the country.

A private, non-profit hospital, Women & Children’s Hospital is the major teaching affiliate of the State University of New York at Buffalo (SUNY) School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences’ Department of Pediatrics. The University’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology is housed here as well. More than 700 medical, nursing, and allied health students study here each year. As part of its commitment to primary care, WCHOB maintains two clinics in underserved areas. In addition, a commitment has been made to be intimately involved in providing primary care to school-based clinics.

Located in a beautiful residential section of central Buffalo, among streets lined with majestic Victorian mansions and stately oaks, the hospital campus is easily accessible by private or public transportation – including Buffalo’s light rail rapid transit line which runs from the downtown area to the University’s South Campus, where the medical school is located.

The University’s medical school has over 2,000 faculty members, more than 300 of whom are full time. House officers in pediatrics receive clinical faculty appointments in the University and play a major role in teaching medical students. Because of their clinical faculty appointments, residents have access to the educational, cultural, and recreational facilities of the University.

For more information, please visit The Women & Children's Hospital of Buffalo Home Page at www.wchob.org.