Children are not just little adults. They are unique... and we treat each one exactly that way.

Step into Brenner Children’s Hospital and you enter a world where compassionate care blends with the latest in medical technology to make a real difference in the lives of young patients. Brenner Children’s Hospital at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center is a special place -- a hospital within a hospital -- dedicated to treating medical and psychosocial needs of children and adolescents. Established in 1986 with a grant from the Brenner Foundation, the children’s hospital admits more than 4,500 patients annually. Approximately 70 percent of these patients come from outside Forsyth County.

At Brenner Children’s Hospital, we offer more than just traditional medical care. We are acutely aware that our young patients are children first. Because their needs are unique, they require a very specialized kind of medical care and emotional support. Our emphasis is on helping the children experience all the normal aspects of childhood while they are hospitalized. We encourage parents to stay with their children and participate in all aspects of their children’s care. This parental support, as well as schoolwork and recreational time, are all important elements of a child’s recovery at Brenner Children’s Hospital.

A Special Place for Children

Special Care for Little Lives
Our smallest and most fragile patients, typically premature infants or those born with life-threatening problems, are cared for in a 40-bed neonatal intensive care nursery. A dedicated neonatal AirCare helicopter and a specially-equipped ground ambulance service transport infants from a 20-county region of North Carolina, as well as from southern Virginia and eastern Tennessee, directly to Brenner. This ground service is one of the largest in the state.

Toys, Tricycles and Tots
Brenner recognizes that recreational time and developmental stimulation play a key role in a child’s recovery. Playrooms with age-appropriate furniture and toys are available for toddler and pre-school aged patients as well as a lounge for teenagers complete with stereo, pool table, and video games. Patient rooms feature bright, cheery wallpapers and bathrooms are decorated with colorful nautical themes including playful dolphins and mystical mermaids. Through the Child Life program, advance tours of the operating room are given to patients and their families. In order to help children overcome their fears and concerns about being in the hospital, child life specialists use dolls and some of the actual medical equipment that children will see to demonstrate what will happen to them during surgery and other medical procedures.

Teaming Up For Total Care

In response to the region’s growing demand for specialized pediatric services, Brenner Children’s Hospital moved into new and expanded facilities in 2002. The current 160-bed hospital occupies six floors of Ardmore Tower West. Brenner employs more than 75 physicians representing over 25 medical and surgical specialties encompassing all areas of pediatric care. Physicians and nurses, who are also specifically trained in pediatric care, serve as key members of multidisciplinary teams that include pediatric pharmacists, child life specialists, occupational and physical therapists and social workers. Together, team members collaborate on the optimal care of each patient.

Reaching Out
Brenner Children’s Hospital is recognized as a major referral center for western North Carolina, southern Virginia, southeastern West Virginia, eastern Tennessee and northern South Carolina. To better serve the people of this broad region, Brenner has established numerous satellite clinics throughout North Carolina and Virginia, including a multispecialist clinic in Greensboro that opened in February of 1997.