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Children's Wisconsin
At Children’s Wisconsin, we believe that kids deserve the best. We provide the highest-quality primary and specialty health care for children in the state, while supporting educational and research initiatives to bring that care to the next level.
That’s why we want you here. We need people like you who understand our passion and know how to put patients and their families first. It’s what we look for in every person we hire — from the faculty, who bring the academic expertise we need and the residents and fellows we train, to the nurses, who strengthen everything we do, and the administrative and support staff who make it all possible.
At Children’s Wisconsin, our singular focus is providing the best care possible for every child and family that comes through our doors. Kids deserve to be physically and mentally healthy. Kids deserve to feel seen and heard. Kids deserve the best.
Children’s Wisconsin has been named a Top Workplace by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel every year since 2010.
Learn our story
Since the day we were founded in 1894 as Milwaukee’s Free Hospital, we’ve always been there for Wisconsin’s kids — and we always will be.
But that’s not our whole story.
Our story includes 9-year-old Takiya, whose emotional outbursts and social struggles were getting in the way of learning until she got mental health care right down the hall from her classroom in one of our school-based mental health clinics.
Our story includes our pediatric pulmonary medicine team, who first recognized the signs of vaping-related illness in teenagers, setting off a national health alert about e-cigarettes.
Our story includes 15-year-old Ashana, who was adopted
by her forever family through our foster and adoption care services.
Our story includes 100+ primary care physicians in the Children’s Primary Care practice, who have re-visioned the well-child appointment to include a visit with a mental and behavioral health provider.
Our story includes 8-year-old Milosz, who gets support from our Educational Achievement Partnership Program through our Herma Heart Institute, helping his teachers understand the connection between his heart defects and behavioral struggles to ensure academic and social success.
Our story includes care for kids in so many ways: in the hospital and in primary care, in the Emergency Department and in a therapist’s office, through a digital health offering or at a school nurse’s office, through our child advocacy effortsor our health insurance plans. It includes the parents who work alongside us and the donors and advocates who support our work.
We are more than a hospital and a health system; we are a community of caregivers dedicated to making Wisconsin’s kids the healthiest in the nation.
We need you to help us continue our mission.
Children’s values and guiding behaviors
Our five values guide and inspire us. The guiding behaviors describe how we pursue our vision and mission. These actions demonstrate our passion, and show how much we care for and about children and families.
Purpose
We act in service of children and families.
Collaboration
We work together to care for and about children, families and each other.
Integrity
We build confidence and trust in all interactions.
Health
We are at our best.
Innovation
We commit to improvement with breakthrough ideas and solutions.
Children's Research Institute
Children’s Research Institute, a collaboration that includes Children’s Wisconsin, the Medical College of Wisconsin, Marquette University College of Nursing and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee College of Nursing, represents the most powerful concentration of pediatric research in the region. Our researchers collaborate with experts and organizations on both a regional and national level to develop new treatments, interventions and diagnostic tools for congenital, acute and chronic pediatric conditions.
Our focus is on translational research so we can bring discoveries from the laboratory to our patients as quickly as possible. With annual averages of more than 1,000 active clinical trials and nearly $30 million in external funding, the researchers at the Children’s Research Institute are developing new treatments, methods and diagnostic tools for congenital, acute and chronic pediatric conditions.
Our research is divided into four units:
- Developmental genetics and genomics research. Researchers here seek to harness the power of the human genome to identify the underlying genetic contributors to diseases like diabetes and inherited kidney conditions, among others.
- Infection, inflammation and immunity research. This research ranges from basic science studies that dissect essential genetic programs to clinical studies that test new approaches to the diagnosis and treatment of immunologically mediated diseases. This includes translational research related to the gut microbiome and its connection to inflammatory bowel diseases.
- Vascular biology and hematology research. Here, our researchers are bringing new understanding to the areas of bleeding disorders, sickle cell disease and congenital heart disease, as well as exciting work in developmental vascular biology.
- Patient-centered research. This includes the MACC Fund Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders, which provides bench-to-bedside resources to transform cancer research for the next generation of children. The focus here is on clinical effectiveness, outcomes and community health and prevention.
Getting the Grant
Research is the heart of academic medicine. But research cannot be done without funding. The Medical College of Wisconsin routinely ranks in the top 3% of total funding among organizations who receive funding from the National Institutes of Health. We want you to be part of that success. Thus, we are committed to providing grant-writing support, including semi-annual grant-writing retreats, where you can learn the latest about NIH grants, work on grant submissions and have the submission reviewed.
Our commitment to mental health
Children’s Wisconsin is committed to addressing the mental and behavioral health crisis facing our children. Right now, one in five children is living with a serious mental illness and Wisconsin’s youth suicide rate remains significantly higher than most of the U.S. In fact, suicide is the second-leading cause of death among kids.
To help address this crucial need, Children’s has developed a number of programs to help kids across the state. Here are some of the things we are doing to help:
- Craig Yabuki Mental Health Walk-In Clinic: Provides same-day care for children and teens experiencing urgent mental health issues as an alternative to traditional urgent care and emergency room services.
- Project Shine Through: A years-long strategic vision with seven key initiatives aimed at improving mental and behavioral health in kids. This includes an emphasis on ease of access, universal screenings and robust emergency services.
- Children’s Wisconsin plans to make mental health services available to kids at all Children’s Wisconsin primary care offices and urgent care locations by the end of 2023.
- Project Ujima: This program works to stop the cycle of violent crimes through crisis intervention and case management; social and emotional support; youth development and mentoring; mental health and medical services.
- Gender Health Clinic: Children’s Wisconsin offers gender health services for teens and young adults, including psychological care and social/spiritual support services.
About Milwaukee
About Milwaukee
Located in the southeast corner of Wisconsin nestled along Lake Michigan and just 90 miles north of Chicago, Milwaukee has all the advantages of a large, vibrant city but without the stress or cost. Milwaukee is the largest city in Wisconsin and has an urban/suburban vibe, youthful population and low cost of living, all of which contributed to U.S. News & World Report ranking it as the 75th best metro area to live in the United States in 2022. It’s the perfect-sized metro area, with 1.6 million residents, a bustling nightlife, award-winning restaurants, lakefront museums and a thriving music and arts scene. In 2021, the median price for a home in Milwaukee was $225,312, nearly 40 percent less than the national median home price, while the average cost of living is 12 percent below the national average.
Milwaukee’s higher education system
Nationally recognized public and private school systems in the Milwaukee region are committed to accelerating student achievement and building positive relationships. International Baccalaureate, Advanced Placement, dual language programs, and charter schools focused on science/technology, arts, and environmental sciences provide additional options for students with specialized interests. More than 68,000 students are enrolled each year in the more than two dozen public and private four-year schools serving the Milwaukee region. These include nationally recognized universities, colleges, technical schools and specialty schools, including the Medical College of Wisconsin, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Marquette University, the Milwaukee School of Engineering and the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design.
Photos by VISIT Milwaukee
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