Valley Children's history

1955: Valley Children’s pediatric cardiac surgery program begins with closed-heart procedures.

By 1958, a successful repair of an atrial septal defect - abnormal communication between the upper chambers of the heart - was performed.

The Kay Anderson Vertical Screen Oxygenator was purchased in 1959.

By 1960, the first open heart surgeries were performed using our new cardiopulmonary bypass capabilities.

1961: The Hospital acquires a heart defibrillator.

1971: Our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) opens with eight beds.

1975: Our fully equipped emergency room opens.

1978: In a first for the area, Valley Children’s surgeons separate conjoined twins.

1979: Valley Children’s Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) opens.

1980: A newly remodeled intensive care unit opens.

1983: The first telethon to benefit Valley Children’s airs.

1985: Valley Children’s NICU opens at Saint Agnes Medical Center in Fresno.

1986: Valley Children’s rehabilitation center opens.

1989: Valley Children’s Olivewood Specialty Care Center in Merced opens.

1995: Valley Children’s NICU opens at Mercy Medical Center in Merced.

1996: Valley Children’s NICU opens at Adventist Health in Hanford.

1997: Our first primary care physician practice, Charlie Mitchell Children’s Center, opens in Madera.

1998: Valley Children’s Hospital moves a few miles north to its new location in Madera.

2002: Valley Children’s Olivewood Specialty Care Center in Modesto opens.

2004: Valley Children’s becomes the first designated Magnet Nursing hospital west of the Rockies.

2006: The Hospital receives a $4 million donation from the Wonderful Company that allows us to expand 60,000-square feet with additional surgical suites, imaging department, PICU and Emergency Department (ED).

2008: Valley Children’s becomes a Magnet Nursing hospital for a second time (hospitals may apply for redesignation every four years). Valley Children’s Hospital becomes the first hospital in the state to offer private rooms in our neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

2010: Our PICU receives the Beacon Award for Critical Care Excellence for the first time.

2014: Valley Children’s Healthcare officially forms, a network focused on providing comprehensive, high-quality pediatric care to more families across our vast service area.

2015: Valley Children’s 34th Street Specialty Care Center in Bakersfield opens.

2016: Valley Children’s Hospital ranks for the first time as one of United States News & World Report’s “Best Children’s Hospitals” – in Neonatology.

2017: The inaugural class of the Valley Children’s Pediatric Residency Program, affiliated with Stanford University School of Medicine, arrives.

2018: Valley Children's transitions its 34th Street Specialty Care Center services to the newly built, 52,000-square-foot Eagle Oaks Specialty Care Center in Bakersfield.

2019: To meet the growing need for pediatric specialty care services in the North Valley, Valley Children’s transitions services at its Olivewood Specialty Care Center to the new Pelandale Specialty Care Center, a 40,000-square-foot building that sits on six acres in north Modesto.