Nemours Children's Hospital, Delaware

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Nemours Children's Hospital, Delaware
Nemours Children's Health
Nemours Children's Hospital, Delaware as seen from the Nemours Estate
Geography
Location	Wilmington, Delaware, United States
Organization
Funding	Non-profit hospital
Type	Specialty - Pediatrics
Affiliated university	Thomas Jefferson University University of Delaware
Patron	The Nemours Foundation
Services
Emergency department	Level 1 Pediatric Emergency Department
Beds	195
History
Opened	1940
Links
Website	www.nemours.org

Nemours Children's Hospital, Delaware is a pediatric hospital located in Wilmington, Delaware.^[1] It is operated by the Nemours Foundation, a non-profit organization created through the last will and testament of philanthropist Alfred I. du Pont by his widow Jessie Ball duPont in 1936, and dedicated to improving children's health.^[2] Historically, it was referred to as the A. I. duPont Institute for Crippled Children or more simply, the duPont Institute and provides pediatric specialties and subspecialties to infants, children, teens, and young adults up to age 21.^[3][4]

Nemours Children's Hospital, Delaware, was the first freestanding children's hospital that is part of Nemours Children's Health, the nation's largest multi-state, multi-location pediatric health system.^[5] The hospital has achieved Magnet status multiple times and has several specialties consistently ranked by U.S. News & World Report's Top Children's Hospital awards.^[6] Additionally, it is recognized as an American College of Surgeons Children's Surgery Verified Hospital.^[7]

Alfred I. duPont established a trust composed of his holdings in E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company which provided for the formation of The Nemours Foundation, named for the duPont family's home in France.^[8][9] The Nemours Foundation was incorporated in Florida in 1936.^[10] Nemours offers pediatric clinical care, research, education, advocacy and prevention programs.^[11]

In 1940, the original Alfred I. duPont Institute opened in Wilmington. It is known for pediatric orthopedics.^[12] In 1976, the Nemours Board of Directors expanded the institute's mission to encompass more pediatric diseases. The first phase of the new Nemours Children's Hospital, Delaware was completed in 1979. Outpatient and ambulatory care was provided at the adjacent Nemours Children's Clinic. The current hospital was completed in 1984.^[13]

Nemours has grown to be one of the nation's largest children's health systems, caring for more than a quarter of a million children each year. The hospital is part of the duPont legacy.^[14] It was named one of the nation's best children's hospitals by Parents Magazine in 2009.^[15] The institute is academically affiliated with both the University of Delaware in Newark and Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, and the residency program is handled through Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.^[13]

The Nemours Foundation is the sole beneficiary of the A.I. duPont Testamentary Trust, valued at $3.4 billion in 2009.^[16] The trusts supporting the Nemours Foundation (the A.I. duPont Testamentary Trust and the Edward Ball Trust) were valued at a combined $5.5 billion in 2015.^[17]

On May 12, 2021, the hospital announced its name change to "Nemours Children's Hospital, Delaware."^[18]

In April 2024, Nemours partnered with the University of Central Florida to train future pediatric doctors. The partnership will address a projected shortage of physicians across Florida by 2035.^[19]

The medical campus is located directly east of the DuPont Experimental Station and the site also houses the Nemours Estate. The facility provides Delaware's only Pediatric Trauma Center, advanced inpatient and outpatient pediatric care in more than 30 specialties, intensive and acute pediatric care, as well as pediatric research.^[20] The Ronald McDonald House of Delaware adjacent to the hospital provides sleep rooms and showers for the parents and families of children receiving treatment.

Nemours Biomedical Research occupies the E400 building in the DuPont Experimental Station.^[21]

In 2011, the Nemours Foundation announced a $212 million expansion that would increase the size of the Emergency Department and number of inpatient beds.^[22][23] The construction was completed in 2014 and the doors opened to patients in October 2014.^[24][25]

In 2022, Nemours began a $40 million expansion in southeastern Pennsylvania in which the health system will open three new specialty care sites by the winter of 2024.^[26]

In May 2023, Nemours opened a specialized pediatric medical office in Broomall, Pennsylvania that includes doctors who are experts in more than 15 medical and surgical specialties.^[27][28]

In March 2023, Nemours opened a 43,000-square-foot facility in Chester County that will offer 18 medical and outpatient surgical specialties for children.^[29]

The hospital offers intensive and acute inpatient and outpatient services in more than 30 disciplines.^[30] It is internationally recognized in blood and bone marrow transplantation, achondroplasia, cancer, cardiology and cardiac surgery, neurosurgery, orthopedics, and solid organ transplantation.^[31]

39°46′56″N 75°33′20″W / 39.782215°N 75.555435°W / 39.782215; -75.555435