“Yes, we are going to build this hospital. All we have to do is roll up our sleeves higher and work harder.”
–Lucile Salter Packard

Stanford student Lucile Salter begins volunteering at the Stanford Home for Convalescent Children—the predecessor of the children’s hospital—kicking off her lifelong dedication to children’s health.

The $5 million, 60-bed Children’s Hospital at Stanford opens, replacing the Con Home and further expanding teaching and research in children’s health.

David and Lucile Packard donate $70 million to build a new children’s hospital. In 1987, shortly after Lucile passes away, the Board votes unanimously to name the hospital in her memory.

Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford officially opens its doors. It’s one of the first children’s hospitals in the nation to incorporate pediatrics and labor and delivery in one building.

The Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health opens as the sole fundraising entity for Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital and the Stanford School of Medicine’s maternal and child health programs.  

The Foundation establishes its grantmaking arm. At its launch, the program makes grants to community organizations that focus on the safety of young children and the emotional health of pre-teens. 

The Foundation launches kidsdata.org to provide an easy-to-use resource that offers high-quality, wide-ranging, local data to those working on behalf of children’s well-being. Eighteen years later, the Foundation will select Population Reference Bureau as the new home for kidsdata.org.

The Campaign for Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital raises $525 million, enabling Stanford to recruit 40 top specialists and transform our hospital into a national leader.

The Foundation narrows its grantmaking and advocacy focus to improving systems of care for children and youth with chronic and complex health conditions. Grantees address challenges families face in accessing and coordinating care, both in California and nationally.

Construction finishes on our hospital’s new Main building, adding 150 new patient rooms and surgical, diagnostic, and treatment areas. Our community donated $262 million, playing a key role in making this expansion possible.

Thanks to donor support, our hospital’s new, dedicated fifth-floor Bass Center facility opens, adding 49 dedicated beds for cancer patients, a stem cell transplant unit, and first-in-human clinical trials for children through the Stanford School of Medicine. 

The campaign to modernize the obstetric and neonatal facilities at Packard Children’s Hospital kicks off, with lead gifts from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and donors Bruce and Elizabeth Dunlevie.

The Foundation’s grantmaking program exceeds $50 million in total investments. Our Program for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs is recognized as a national leader in driving health care systems change.