When we throw a birthday party, we are celebrating another year of life — in addition to the years already gone by. The older, the more impressive, right? Enter: Children’s Mercy Hospital. This integral Kansas City institution turns 125 this year.
There’s a reason Children’s Mercy has been rated among the best child hospitals in the nation (more on that later), but did you know how it all got started? Here’s a shot of history + quotes and dates that will give you a healthy admiration for this KC institution.
1860: Origin story
Katharine Berry Richardson was born and was raised by her older sister, Alice Berry Graham, and their single father after their mother died young. Alice became a teacher and used her salary to put Katherine through medical school in Philadelphia — in a time where women were not commonly doctors. Katherine then returned the favor, paying for Alice’s degree in dentistry.
1897: Defining moment
The two moved to KC in the late 1890s. Then in 1897, a West Bottoms bartender told them about a woman who had a sick, starving child. The two sisters rented a bed at a maternity hospital on KC’s East Side and nursed the girl back to health.
During this experience, Alice said, “It’s time someone took a greater interest in helping children like this.
“I think you and I are the ones to do it,” Katherine replied.
Katherine was described as technically skilled, compassionate, encouraging, outspoken, and unyielding. She advocated for hospitals with light + fresh air, filled the wards with toys, and recruited comedians and circus clowns to perform for the children.
15 important dates
Via Children’s Mercy
- 1897: Alice + Katharine open The Free Bed Fund Association for Crippled, Deformed and Ruptured Children
- 1903: The Free Bed Fund board approves the name Mercy Hospital.
- 1903: Mercy Hospital opens with five beds at 414 Highland Avenue
- 1913: Alice dies from cancer. She was 53.
- 1915: $375,000 raised to construct Children’s Mercy Hospital at 1710 Independence Ave.
- 1933: Katharine dies. She performed her last surgery just two days before.
- 1954: The hospital’s budget more than quadruples from ~20 years prior
- 1962: Affiliation begins with the University of Missouri Medical Center
- 1970: Patients move into the new Children’s Mercy Hospital at 2401 Gillham Rd. on Dec. 17 after a $7 million campaign.
- 1992: “Centennial Campaign” raises $68 million in 2 years
- 1997: Children’s Mercy named one of the Top 10 Children’s Hospitals in the United States by Child magazine.
- 2011: Children’s Mercy ranks in all 10 U.S. News and World Report specialties as one of the “Best Children’s Hospitals”
- 2014: Hospital budget exceeds $1 billion — enough to give every kid in the US today ~$14.
- 2020: Calling it one of the most important days in Children’s Mercy history, the organization unveils its new vision, mission and values.
- 2021: Children’s Mercy opens the Children’s Mercy Research Institute in a new, 9-story, 375,000 square-foot building.