From its founding in 1872, the Shrine supported various charities and philanthropies. In 1920 however, Shriners voted to found their own philanthropy ---Shriners Hospitals for Children.

The first Shriners Hospital, in what would grow into an international network was opened in Shreveport, La. In1922. Today, Shriners Hospitals comprise 18 orthopedic hospitals three burn hospitals, and one hospital providing orthopedic, burn and spinal cord injury care.

The 22 Shriners Hospitals ---- 20 in the United States and one each in Canada and Mexico provide expert orthopedic and burn cart to children absolutely free of charge. All children up to their 18^th birthday may be eligible for treatment at a Shriners Hospital if, in the opinion of the hospitals chief of staff, the child has an orthopedic or burn condition that can be helped. Shriners Hospitals accept and treat children regardless of race, religion or relationship to a Shriner

Shriners Hospitals are funded by contributions, bequests, and income from the Shriners Hospitals endowment fund, each Shiner’s annual hospital assessment and designated charitable fundraising events. There is never a charge to the patient or patient’s family for any service or medical treatment provided by Shriners Hospitals

When the Shriners opened their first orthopedic hospitals in 1922, they committed themselves to caring for children with orthopedic problems.

Some of the orthopedic problems most commonly treated at Shriners Hospitals include the following.

• Scoliosis (Curvature of the spine and spinal deformities.
• Clubfoot and related deformities
• Osteogenesis imperfecta (brittle bone disease)
• Spinal Bifida / myelodysplasia
• Skeletal growth abnormalities
• Neuromuscular disorders
• Hand problems
• Back problems
• Hip problems
• Orthopedic problems of cerebral palsy
• Limb deficiencies
• Leg Length discrepancies
• Metabolic bone disease
• Legg-Perthes disease
• Rickets

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In 1980, the Shrine expanded its scope of research and orthopedic treatment by opening at its Philadelphia Hospital one of the nation’s first spinal cord injury rehabilitation centers for children. Today there are three Shriners Hospitals with spinals cord injury centers ---- in Chicago, Philadelphia and Sacramento. These rehabilitation centers help each child learn to overcome his injury and lead a more active productive life. With these specialized centers, Shriners Hospitals are able to provide help and hope to children who are disabled by spinal cord injuries.

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Forty years after opening its first Shriners Hospital, the Shrine of North America became aware of another enemy of children ----- the severe burn, Each year , thousands of children are disfigured or killed by what has been called one of the greatest hazards of childhood.

Recognizing the lack of medical expertise in the burn care field, in the mid-1960 the Shrine opened three Shriners Hospitals specifically to treat burns, each with the three-fold purpose of helping children, conduction burn research and training medical personnel in the treatment of burn injuries. Today, four Shriners Hospitals provide acute and rehabilitative care for children who have been burned.

The burn Shriners Hospitals are located in Boston, Cincinnati, Galveston, Texas and Sacramento, Calf. Since the mid-1960s, when the Shrine first made a commitment to advancing burn treatment by opening these specialized hospitals, a burned child’s chance of of survival has more than doubled.

Today, Shriners Hospitals remain pioneers in burn treatment. They are actively involved in developing many major advances that will continue to revolutionize the way burn patients will be treated. The Shrine reinforces its commitment to research and improvements in burn treatment through affiliations with the outstanding medical schools at Harvard University, the University of Cincinnati, the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, and UC-Davis in Sacramento.

The burn Shriners Hospitals are staffed and equipped to treat the following;

• Patients with acute, fresh burns
• Patients needing reconstructive or restorative surgery as a result of healed burns.
• Patients with severe scarring, resulting in contractors of interference with mobility of the limbs
• Patients with facial scarring and deformity

Non –emergency admissions for burn care is dependent on the medical needs of the patient and on the availability of beds. Shriners Hospital are open to children up to their 18^th birthday, regardless of race, religion or relationship to a Shriner.

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Shriners Hospitals have been actively engaged in clinical research since the opening of the first hospital in 1922, in the early 1960’s, however Shriners Hospitals aggressively entered the structured research field and began and began earmarking funds for their research projects. Since that time, Shriners Hospitals have been at the vanguard of pediatric and burn research, significantly adding to the progress that has been made during the past there decades.

What began as a $12,000 investment in the 1960’s has blossomed into an international program with an annual resear4ch budget of approximately $28 million. These funds equaling a little over 4 percent of the total operating budget, are concentrated at the Boston, Cincinnati, Galveston and Sacramento burn hospitals and at the orthopedic hospitals in Montreal, Philadelphia, Portland and Tampa, with most of the 22 Shriners Hospitals participating to some extent in research projects. The research budgets funds approximately 135 research projects.

Research into burn care has had a dramatic impact on improving survival from severe burns and markedly reducing hospitalization time. Research has demonstrated the value of growth factors in improving protein synthesis decreasing weight loss and improving wound healing; demonstrated the value of immediate wound closure developed pressure garments to prevent scar formation, improved metabolic and nutritional care. And developed artificial skin and improved wound healing techniques, These pioneering efforts by Shrine burn scientists have significantly improved burn care throughout the world.

At the orthopedic hospitals research has resulted in the development of effective treatment for X-linked hypophosphatemia, the most prevalent inherited form of rickets, and Osteogenesis imperfecta, known as brittle bone disease applied functional electrical stimulation to help spinal cord injured children, as well as those with cerebral palsy, stand, walk and use their hands more effectively; demonstrated that a mutation in the gene for fibrillin, a component of connective tissue which holds together skin, muscle and organs, is responsible for Marfan syndrome; and developed sensitive biological indicators, which may be valuable in detecting preclinical arthritis as well as the effectiveness of treatment of individuals with this condition.

These accomplishments rarely have been dramatic breakthroughs but were built upon years of fundamental research. Research is an endless frontier, and the continued emphasis on research at Shriners Hospitals will enable these Centers of Excellence to continue to be at the leading edge of delivering quality patient care.

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Since the first Shriners Hospital opened in 1922, approximately 770,00 children have been helped by the free medical care they received at one of the 22 hospitals. During the 83 year history of Shriners Hospitals, approximately 47 billion has been spent to operate Shriners Hospitals and over $1.7 billion has been spent on construction and renovation cost.

Since the first Shrines Hospital opened, there have been approximately;

• 9,419,840 X-rays and radiology exams

• 7,112,840 outpatient and outreach clinic visits

• 740,945 operations performed

• 1,254,854 braces and prostheses applied

• 16,410,800 physical therapy treatments given.

At year–end 2004, the active patient roster at all Shriners Hospitals totaled 194,254. During this year the hospital approved 35,128 new applications for treatment.

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Children from infancy to their 18^th birthday with orthopedic or burn problems may be eligible for treatment at a Shriners Hospital if there is a reasonable possibility that treatment would benefit the child

Shriners Hospitals for Children admit children regardless of race, religion or relationship to a Shriner There is never a charge to the patient or family for any of the medical care or services provided at a Shriners Hospital.

The sooner a burned child reaches a Shriners Hospitals specializing in burn care, The better his chances of recovery. In an emergency, the referring physical treating a burned child should telephone the chief of staff at the nearest burn Shriners Hospitals and indicate that he has a patient needing emergency medical care. Transportation of the patient is the responsibility of the patient’s family, but many Shrine Temples offer transportation assistance.

Non-emergency admission for burn care at a Shriners Hospital is dependent on the medical needs of the patient and on the availability of beds. Shriners Hospitals are open to children up to their 18^th birthday, regardless of race religion or relationship to a Shriner

Applications forms for non-emergency admission for burn care can be obtained from any Shrine Temple of Shrine Club or by writing to Shriners Hospitals P.O. Box 31356, Tampa, FL 33631 or by calling the Shriners Hospitals for Children patients referral line at 1-800-237-5055 (in Canada, call 1-800-361-7256)