Riley Children’s Health is celebrating their centennial anniversary in 2024 – that’s 100 years of taking care of children and families throughout the state of Indiana! Because of this momentous achievement, we are bringing you 10 facts about Riley Children’s, from past to present.

1. James Whitcomb Riley Memorial Hospital for Children (now Riley Hospital for Children) was dedicated on October 7th, 1924.
The idea for Riley Hospital for Children began when poet James Whitcomb Riley died in 1916 and close friends formed the Riley Memorial Committee (now called the Riley Children’s Foundation) to find a way to honor his memory. In 1917, the Committee decided upon a children’s hospital as a fitting tribute to Riley whose poetry celebrated children and to also meet the pressing medical needs of children. The hospital was dedicated on Riley’s birthday – October 7th, 1924. All children – regardless of race, religion, or ability to pay – were cared for in this facility from the first day it opened. Riley Hospital was one of the few hospitals that was not segregated at that time.
2. Riley Children’s paved the way for parents and caregivers to be with their children, 24/7, while they are in the hospital.
Up through the 1950s, families wanting to see a child in hospitals across the country were restricted to limited hours during the day and week. Riley Hospital championed change when Dr. Morris Green, who chaired Riley Hospital’s Department of Pediatrics from 1967 to 1987, moved hospital policy away from parents being restricted to two hours in the morning and two hours in the evening to round-the-clock visitation.
The Baxter Parent Care Pavilion opened in 1971 and was pioneered by Dr. Morris Green. This unit provided visitation and in-room sleeping accommodations for parents, and this was groundbreaking, because hospitals across the nation used this as a model for their own family-centered care.
3. Riley Children’s was one of the first in the country to perform pediatric heart surgery.
Riley cardiothoracic surgeons have performed pediatric heart surgeries since the 1940s. And since then, the Riley heart team has been innovative in how they diagnose heart defects and perform surgeries, including:
- In 1950, Dr. Paul Raymond Lurie, following his pediatric residency at Yale University, came to Riley Hospital to become the first pediatric cardiologist in Indiana. He was the first in the country to perform percutaneous cardiac catheterization in children.
- In 1966, Riley Hospital became the first hospital in Indiana and one of the first in the nation, to utilize echocardiography to diagnose congenital heart defects in children. This test used sound waves to create a moving picture of the heart that was more detailed than an x-ray image and involved no exposure to radiation to detect congenital heart defects.
- In 1989, Dr. John Brown and Dr. Mark Turrentine performed Indiana’s first infant and newborn heart transplants. Subsequently, in 2003, Riley Hospital became the first hospital in the United States to implant a Berlin Heart, which until then was only available for adults in Europe. The Berlin Heart functions as an external artificial blood pump for the heart, and after Drs. Brown and Turrentine successfully received humanitarian approval from the FDA and implanted a smaller version of the Berlin Heart in a child, other hospitals in the country began utilizing the Berlin Heart. To watch a video about the history of the Berlin Heart, visit rileychildrens.org/history.
- In 2002, the Riley Heart Center opened. The Riley Heart Center is Indiana’s only dedicated unit for children with heart defects. The Riley Heart Center provides diagnosis and treatment of heart disease all through life – from unborn and premature babies to adults who survive congenital heart disease or discover it for the first time well past childhood.
4. Riley Children’s has been stewarding pediatric research since the very beginning.
When one of Riley Hospital’s founders, Louis C. Huesmann, died in 1926, the Riley Memorial Association (today the Riley Children’s Foundation) established a memorial foundation in his name with proceeds used to support pediatric research projects. Generous gifts of support laid the foundation for when the Riley Research Wing was built in 1949 to provide physicians and researchers dedicated laboratory space to investigate new therapies and cures for generations to come. As part of the largest medical school in the country, Riley Children’s and IU School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, are ranked in the top 10 year-over-year for research-funding. In 1991, the Wells Center for Pediatric Research was built to continue advancements in research and development – not only locally, but globally.
5. Riley Children’s was the first hospital to complete the first successful cochlear implantation surgery in 1983, leading the way in hearing restoration in children.
Before the 1950s, there were limited technological advancements in the field of hearing restoration. Early researchers often experimented with hearing devices, but it was not until pioneer William F. House, MD, an otologist, started developing the groundwork for the potentials of cochlear implants, a small electronic device that would be surgically placed into the ear to provide an auditory sensation.
By 1978, Richard C. Miyamoto, MD, a former pediatric otolaryngologist at Riley Children’s and collaborator with Dr. House, began a trailblazing clinical trial to study cochlear implants further with results later proving that cochlear implants were largely beneficial for children. Dr. Miyamoto, who rose to chief of otology and neurotology and chairman of otolaryngology until retirement in 2014, was the first ear surgeon at Riley Children’s to put a cochlear implant in a child in 1983 and in 1995, he implanted a cochlear implant in a 16-month-old child, the youngest in the world to have one and to now have the chance to learn sound and language from early on in his life. By 2010, thousands of patients had undergone the cochlear implant procedure. Today, cochlear implantation surgeries are performed regularly, with the cochlear implant program at Riley Children’s being internationally recognized for its expert clinical care and research.
6. Riley Hospital is Indiana’s longest-standing Level I Pediatric Trauma Center, verified by the American College of Surgeons since 1993.
Riley Hospital is verified to care for children with traumatic injuries. At the pediatric trauma center, your child will receive the highest level of care in a center specifically designed for children with traumatic injuries. The trauma center cares for infants and children up to 18 years old.
The surgery center at Riley Hospital has received the highest distinction, a Level I status, and the first children’s hospital in Indiana to earn this status.
The Burn Program is also top notch – verified by the American Burn Association. In case of a burn injury, Riley board-certified, specially trained pediatric burn plastic surgeons work with you and your child’s primary care doctor to give your child real hope for recovery.
7. Riley Children’s has an incredible statewide presence and expansion, with pediatricians providing routine primary care for kids in 12 communities as well as specialty care close to home in 19 communities throughout Indiana.
Riley pediatricians provide pediatric primary care – for sniffles, sports physicals, and everything in-between – for kids in offices that offer 24/7 online scheduling, virtual visits, extended hours and more. Their pediatricians practice at many locations throughout the state, including the new Fishers pediatric primary care location. To find a Riley pediatrician near you, visit rileychildrens.org/primarycare.
If your child is diagnosed with a medical condition, you can count on Riley Children’s to help with nationally ranked pediatric care, close to home.
8. Riley Children’s at IU Health North in Carmel offers the same pediatric care as well as 24/7 emergency care that patients have come to expect from Riley Children’s but in a convenient location close to home.
Riley Children’s at IU Health North provides many of the same services as the downtown location, only closer to home for many families on the northside of Indianapolis. That means many of the pediatric services families have come to expect from Riley Children’s are also available at IU Health North. Plus, there are unique services such as walk-in care for pediatric orthopedic injuries.
When the unexpected happens and your child is in need of emergency care, the Emergency Departments at Riley Hospital in Indianapolis and IU Health North in Carmel (with a planned emergency department in Fishers in the future) have Riley emergency medicine physicians available around the clock. They are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can conveniently check wait times at rileychildrens.org/emergency.
9. The state-of-the-art Riley Maternity Tower is a destination for coordinated expertise from the simplest to the most complex deliveries. Our leading-edge facility brings together highly skilled doctors for moms and newborns – all under one roof.
The Riley Maternity Tower – a state-of-the-art tower with four floors – was completed in November 2021 to continue Riley Children’s dedication to family-centered care. This tower was designed to give women a variety of birthing options in private labor and delivery rooms, as well as allow their newborns to stay with them while receiving the care they need. Take a virtual tour or learn what to expect at rileychildrens.org/maternity.
10. Riley Children’s Health is nationally ranked in 11 out of 11 pediatric specialties by U.S. News & World Report.
Riley Children’s Health makes it possible for families throughout Indiana to get the highest level of care. Whether your child needs primary care for routine health and wellness, or specialty care for acute or complex conditions, you can depend on Riley Children’s for best-in-class care close to home. To learn more about the remarkable 100-year history of Riley Hospital for Children, see the book, Cherishing Each Child, available on Amazon.
