Since 1907, the Seattle Children’s Hospital has served under the mission: to prevent, treat and eliminate pediatric disease. The hospital is known for its capacity to address the specific emotional, physical and developmental necessities of children as they grow from infancy to young adulthood.
The hospital deploys the cooperation of physicians spanning almost 60 subspecialties under the umbrella of pediatrics. Therefore it’s no surprise that the Seattle Children’s Hospital offers a host of services including both inpatient and outpatient services as well as surgical, rehabilitative, behavioral, emergency, and outreach services. While the breadth of services offered is unique unto itself, the hospital provides these services whether or not a family is capable of paying. The unique mission of the Seattle Children’s Hospital originates from the hospital’s founder, Anna Herr Clise.
Born in Wisconsin and re-settled in Seattle with her husband and young infant in 1889, Anna Herr Clise joined the Seattle community under the urging of her husband James’ sister.
With a background in real-estate, James Clise became a prominent real-estate mogul in the Seattle area. By 1898, the Clises were doing quite well for themselves financially and the family had grown to include two more children, but in that same year tragedy struck and the youngest Clise, Willis died from an untreatable illness.
When Willis died, the nearest children’s hospital was located in San Francisco; but, the best treatment options for children were in Philadelphia.
Nearly a decade later, Anna and James Clise accompanied their daughter on a trip east to a finishing school in Philadelphia. On this trip, Anna and James met with various contacts at local children’s treatment facilities.
This trip, coupled with reflections on her son’s death inspired Anna to create a facility that treats ill children in Seattle.
Upon returning to Seattle, Anna got right to work, and gathered a group of local society women to create an association that would fund surgical treatments for children with orthopedic disorders. This association would ensure care regardless of a patient’s religion, race or gender.
The founding members paid an annual membership fee of $10 and an extra $10 to fund the association’s treasury. In considering the city’s poor, these women also decided that children whose families are unable to pay should also receive the care they need and decided that financial support for the hospital needed to come from the local community.
Anna Clise would soon after file articles of incorporation for the Children’s Orthopedic Hospital Association, help raise $50,000 to build a hospital, and enlist the pro-bono services of 12 doctors. From there the hospital blossomed and is still a revered institution for treating children with various maladies to this day.