St. Jude Children's Research Hospital facts for kids
Quick facts for kids St. Jude Children's Research Hospital |
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Main entrance
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| Geography | |
| Location | 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, Tennessee, United States |
| Coordinates | 35°09′12″N 90°02′32″W / 35.153469°N 90.042207°W |
| Organization | |
| Care system | Private & Charity |
| Hospital type | Specialized |
| Services | |
| Standards | JCAHO accreditation |
| Emergency department | No |
| History | |
| Founded | February 4, 1962 |
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is a special hospital and research center in Memphis, Tennessee. It helps children with very serious illnesses, especially leukemia and other types of cancer. The famous entertainer Danny Thomas started it in 1962.
What makes St. Jude unique is that families never pay for treatment. The hospital covers the costs for care, housing, food, and travel. This means families can focus on their child getting better. St. Jude treats patients up to age 21, and sometimes even up to age 25.
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How St. Jude Started
St. Jude Hospital was founded by Danny Thomas in 1962. He got help from his friends, Lemuel Diggs and Anthony Abraham. Danny Thomas had a special promise he made to Saint Jude Thaddeus. Years before, when he was a struggling comedian, he prayed to Saint Jude for help to support his family. He promised that if he became successful, he would build a shrine to the saint.
Danny Thomas became a very successful comedian. He kept his promise by building St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. The hospital's main idea was that "no child should die in the dawn of life." Even though it's named after a saint, St. Jude is not a religious hospital. It welcomes children of all backgrounds.
Most of the money for St. Jude comes from donations. A group called the American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities (ALSAC) helps raise these funds. ALSAC was started by Danny Thomas in 1957. They work to collect money and tell people about St. Jude's important work.
In 2007, the Chili's restaurant chain promised $50 million to help build a new center. This center, called the Chili's Care Center, added a lot of space for patient care and research. Later, in 2014, the Marlo Thomas Center for Global Education and Collaboration opened. In 2017, St. Jude also started a special school for PhD students.
How St. Jude Helps Children
St. Jude has a program called the International Outreach Program. This program works to help children with serious illnesses all over the world. Their goal is to improve how many children survive these diseases globally.
The hospital treats young people up to age 21. For some specific health problems, they can even treat patients up to age 25.
Hospital Leadership
Many important people have led St. Jude over the years. Donald Pinkel was the first director, from 1962 to 1973. Later, James R. Downing became the CEO and director in 2014. These leaders help guide the hospital's mission to treat and cure children.
Hospitals Working with St. Jude
St. Jude works with many other hospitals and clinics across the United States. These places are called "affiliated institutions." They are part of a network that shares St. Jude's mission. Some of these partner hospitals include:
- Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
- Novant Health Hemby Children's Hospital in Charlotte, North Carolina
- Huntsville Hospital for Women & Children in Huntsville, Alabama
- Johnson City Medical Center in Johnson City, Tennessee
- St. Jude Midwest Affiliate, Children's Hospital of Illinois in Peoria, Illinois
- Louisiana State University, Department of Pediatrics, in Shreveport, Louisiana
- Mercy Children's Hospital in Springfield, Missouri
- The Children's Hospital at Saint Francis in Tulsa, Oklahoma
St. Jude also works closely with Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center in Memphis. If a St. Jude patient needs certain surgeries, like brain surgery, they might have it done at Le Bonheur. Both hospitals also help train new doctors from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.
Outside the U.S., the Children's Cancer Center of Lebanon opened in Beirut in 2002. It is also connected to St. Jude.
How St. Jude Gets Money
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and ALSAC are both non-profit organizations. This means they use the money they get to help children, not to make a profit. Most of the money St. Jude uses comes from donations.
In 2012, about 81 cents of every dollar donated went directly to research and treatment. The hospital costs about $1.7 million every day to run. About 74% of its total budget comes from people and companies who donate.
Special Donations
In 1964, Elvis Presley bought a former presidential yacht, the USS Potomac. He then gave it to St. Jude to sell. This helped the hospital raise money.
McDonald's Monopoly Game
In 1995, St. Jude received a winning $1 million McDonald's Monopoly game piece in the mail. Even though the rules usually didn't allow prizes to be transferred, McDonald's made an exception. They agreed to pay the hospital $50,000 each year for 20 years.
Awards and Achievements
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is known for its excellent work. In 2022, U.S. News & World Report named it the second-best children's cancer hospital in the United States.
A scientist from St. Jude, Peter C. Doherty, Ph.D., won the 1996 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. He won for his important discoveries about how our immune system fights off virus-infected cells.
