UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals

So proud to rank among the #BestHospitals for kids again this year, according to U.S. News and World Report! Our hospitals in Oakland and San Francisco placed in all 10 specialties and were the top-ranked hospitals in Northern California in pediatric cancer and urology!

Please congratulate Olo and his family! Last month Olo headed home after several weeks in the hospital and a bone-marrow transplant. His treatment for neuroblastoma began last October and will continue through the end of this year. For now, Olo is excited to be home playing with his dog, Nganga, and drinking his grandma’s papaya smoothies! #ChildhoodCancerWarrior

Our teen patients got dressed up and celebrated the hospital prom on Zoom from their rooms this year! While they couldn't come together in person due to the pandemic, they gathered online for a fun evening of games, raffles, magic and music!

Please wish Walker a happy 2nd heartiversary! Walker had surgery as a baby to fix several holes in his heart and, after going into cardiac arrest, spent eight weeks recovering in our hospital. Walker and his family recently moved from Alameda to Hercules, a fitting town for a strong boy," his mom, Nicole, says. Walker is doing great and loves cars, trucks, trains, planes and his neighborhood mail truckhe even dressed as a postal carrier for Halloween! Walker was thrilled to become a big brother on Christmas Eve!

Please congratulate UCSF pulmonologist Dr. Nick Kolaitis and family, who welcomed baby Grace at our hospital earlier this month! We especially love Grace's pulmonology-themed onesielooks like she's getting ready to follow in her dad's footsteps!

Please congratulate Lewhe’s been seizure-free for 1,000+ days! Lew has a severe form of epilepsy and had between five and 10 seizures a day for several years. He finally found relief through a drug trial with Dr. Sullivan. Years of seizures affected Lew's learning and development, but now he's thriving and doing great with remote schooling. Lew loves singing and puzzles and was thrilled to take a trip to Italy with his family last year, something that never would have been possible for him before. Lew’s parents helped found our Pediatric Epilepsy Center of Excellence so more kids can access innovative, family-centered epilepsy care!

Our holiday toy drives are happening virtually this year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Please consider donating online to send gifts to children in our hospitals this holiday season! Donate here https://ucsfh.org/39KtpJV : Photos pre-date the pandemic

Please wish Elijah and Eizayah a happy 5th birthday! The twins were born five weeks early, and our doctors revived one baby after it looked like he wouldn't make it. They spent nearly a month in the hospital and are now doing great. Both boys love transitional kindergarten and playing with their big sister, Serene!

Please congratulate Hopeshe’s doing great after two brain surgeries for a ruptured arteriovenous malformation, or AVM! Hope came to us by helicopter from Madera in July and had two surgeries with Dr. Gupta. While she was in the hospital, Hope couldn’t see her older sister, Ella, due to COVID-19 protocols. Ella stood in the street outside Hope’s window and held up encouraging signs to cheer her up. After 17 days, Hope was thrilled to be reunited with her sister. Hope recently started sixth grade and loves designing clothes for her dolls and playing with her new puppy, Olive! #AVMAwarenessMonth

It's #GivingTuesday, and a generous donor is matching all gifts to our hospitals, up to $100,000! Please consider supporting our hospitals today, so we can continue caring for all kidslike our adorable #HeartWarrior Erin! Donate here https://ucsfh.org/2Juuevs

Happy Thanksgiving from all the little turkeys at our hospitals!

Krystie rang the end-of-treatment bell after 10 months of bone cancer treatment, including chemo and surgery to remove a tumor! Krystie is a dedicated volleyball and soccer player and noticed pain in her leg last summer. When physical therapy didn’t help, Krystie’s mom pushed for further testing. The same day she received her osteosarcoma diagnosis, Krystie came to our Oakland hospital for treatment. Krystie has wowed her care team with her positive attitude and beautiful smileshe’s looking forward to returning to team sports once the pandemic is over! : Some photos pre-date COVID-19

Medical residents at our Oakland hospital surprised one of our patients with a life-sized Justin Bieber cutout for her 12th birthday!

Happy #PediatricNursesWeek to all the wonderful nurses who care for our patients during the COVID-19 pandemic and every day! : Some photos pre-date COVID-19

Please wish Luis a happy 1st birthday! Luis was born almost four months premature, weighing just over a pound, and spent five months in our Oakland hospital, undergoing multiple surgeries. Luis is now a happy 1-year-old who can roll over to his tummy and loves standing up to dance with help from his family!

Our annual Halloween celebrations are coming up, and our kids will participate virtually this year from their hospital rooms due to COVID-19! We have an immediate need for costumes and other spooky items to help our patients celebrate! Please consider donating via our Amazon wish lists: San Francisco https://ucsfh.org/3l2tX0g Oakland https://ucsfh.org/3l5auMn **All items must be new for infection-control reasons.**

Alycia is doing great after two orthopedic surgeriesplease congratulate her! She was born with no anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL, and one leg shorter than the other. After searching for years for a diagnosis, her mom found our orthopedic team, who constructed an ACL made from Alycia’s hamstring and lengthened her right leg! Alycia is hoping to play sports and finally take the dance classes she’s always dreamed of early next year!

Please congratulate Giohe’s doing great two months after his brain surgery! Last December, Gio was rushed to the hospital in his home state of Florida, when a tangle of abnormal blood vessels called an arteriovenous malformation, or AVM, ruptured in his brain. Gio spent several weeks in a coma breathing through a machine and had to relearn to smile, walk and talk. Because Gio’s AVM was located in a delicate part of the brain, several doctors declined to perform surgery. In July, he flew to San Francisco and had a successful surgery at our hospital, surprising his doctors with an amazing and swift recovery! Gio flew home to Florida that same week and is now having fun with video games, 5th grade and trampoline jumping!

Our patients happily planted a pie in the face of their favorite doctors and nurses in honor of #ChildhoodCancer and #SickleCell Awareness Month! Other kids joined the fun virtually by video, "pieing" their parents and siblings at home!

Please congratulate Leslieshe rang the end-of-treatment bell and headed home after eight months in the hospital, a bone marrow transplant and multiple rounds of chemo for leukemia! #ChildhoodCancerAwarenessMonth

Our San Francisco school room received 40 new iPads to help hospitalized kids keep up with remote learning during the pandemic! Thank you, Royal Automotive Group, for this important donation and for organizing a virtual back-to-school party and magic show for our patients!

Please wish Abbygail a happy 2nd birthday! Earlier this summer, she celebrated the one-year anniversary of her stem-cell transplant for acute myeloid leukemia. Her big brother, Elijah, was her donor! Abbygail is doing great nowshe loves exploring her neighborhood, singing and dance parties! Abbygail is looking forward to becoming a big sister soon and has been practicing by caring for her baby dolls!

Please congratulate Zaydynhe rang the end-of-treatment bell after nine months of treatment for bone cancer, including chemo, multiple surgeries and a total knee replacement! Zaydyn’s mom made custom shirts for his last day of chemo that say, No Mo Chemo, and we wholeheartedly agree! #ChildhoodCancerAwarenessMonth