St. Louis Children’s at CoxHealth Opens Pediatric Hospital in Springfield

As part of our vision to elevate pediatric care for the region, St. Louis Children’s at CoxHealth will open a new pediatric hospital, located on the campus of CoxHealth Medical Center South, on March 1, 2026.

With today’s announcement, St. Louis Children’s at CoxHealth is taking the next step in our joint venture: expanding pediatric inpatient care by creating an independently licensed pediatric hospital within the walls of CoxHealth. 

St. Louis Children's at CoxHealth will be the only independently licensed, full-service pediatric hospital in southwest Missouri and will offer nationally recognized care from WashU Medicine physicians. The hospital includes an advanced neonatal intensive care unit, a pediatric intensive care unit, and inpatient pediatric care. 

“The opening of our pediatric hospital marks an important moment for our community and the patients and families we serve,” says Sarah Becker, vice president and administrator of St. Louis Children's at CoxHealth. “We are proud to bring together leading physicians from WashU Medicine and caregivers, specially trained to care for pediatric patients, to ensure every child receives exceptional, compassionate care right here at home.”

“CoxHealth has always delivered excellent care,” Becker says. “This joint venture enhances those efforts and creates new opportunities for collaboration across pediatric medicine from hospital-based care teams and community physicians. Together, they will support the full continuum of care for children across the region.”

Added Gary Silverman, MD, PhD, head of WashU Medicine’s Department of Pediatrics, “This collaboration creates a destination for pediatric specialty care in southwest Missouri, designed around the unique needs of children and adolescents. We firmly believe families in this region deserve access to leading-edge treatments and pediatric expertise close to home.”

As announced in June 2025, St. Louis Children’s at CoxHealth will also open a 133,000 square-foot Specialty Care Center in summer 2027 featuring ambulatory surgery, imaging, laboratory services, infusion, pediatric specialty care clinics, and more. Specialties will significantly expand access to advanced pediatric care with the addition of cardiology, hematology, oncology, ophthalmology, surgery, and urology. 

Staff at the children’s hospital and the Children's Specialty Care Center are specially trained to care for pediatric patients and include nurses, pharmacists, therapists, and physicians from WashU Medicine such as pediatric surgeons, neonatologists, and intensivists. 

About CoxHealth

CoxHealth is an award-winning regional health system with six hospitals, more than 80 clinics, five ERs and more than 14,000 employees throughout southwest Missouri. CoxHealth is Missouri’s first hospital system accredited by DNV Healthcare for quality and patient safety. Cox Medical Centers, which includes CoxHealth’s Springfield hospitals, is designated as a Magnet® hospital by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's (ANCC) Magnet Recognition Program, and CoxHealth is also the only Springfield hospital named for seven years to U.S. News & World Report's Best Regional Hospitals list. CoxHealth is recognized by CareChex®, the medical quality rating division of Comparion®, as among the Top 10% U.S. hospitals for patient safety in overall hospital, medical and surgical care. For more information, visit www.coxhealth.com.

About St. Louis Children’s Hospital

St. Louis Children’s Hospital is part of BJC Health, one of the largest nonprofit health care organizations in the United States and has provided exceptional care for children from all 50 states and 80 countries around the world for more than 140 years. With its academic partner, WashU Medicine, St. Louis Children’s is consistently ranked among the nation’s best pediatric hospitals by U.S. News & World Report and earns national distinction for comprehensive services that include heart, cancer, neurology, and orthopedics. St. Louis Children’s is among an elite group of pediatric hospitals worldwide that have achieved a fifth consecutive, four-year Magnet Distinction® designation by the American Nurses Credentialing Center. St. Louis Children’s is also one of the few pediatric hospitals in the Midwest nationally recognized by the American College of Surgeons as a Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center, which is the highest classification of trauma care.

About WashU Medicine

WashU Medicine is a global leader in academic medicine, including biomedical research, patient care and educational programs with more than 3,000 faculty. Its National Institutes of Health (NIH) research funding portfolio is the second largest among U.S. medical schools and has grown 83% since 2016. Together with institutional investment, WashU Medicine commits well over $1 billion annually to basic and clinical research innovation and training. Its faculty practice is consistently among the top five in the country, with more than 2,000 faculty physicians practicing at 130 locations. WashU Medicine physicians exclusively staff Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s hospitals — the academic hospitals of BJC HealthCare — and Siteman Cancer Center, a partnership between BJC HealthCare and WashU Medicine and the only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center in Missouri. WashU Medicine physicians also treat patients at BJC’s community hospitals in our region. With a storied history in MD/PhD training, WashU Medicine recently dedicated $100 million to scholarships and curriculum renewal for its medical students, and is home to top-notch training programs in every medical subspecialty as well as physical therapy, occupational therapy, and audiology and communications sciences.