UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals

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UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals

With locations in Oakland and San Francisco, we're one of the top children's hospitals in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report.

Our pediatric expertise includes cancer, heart disease, neurological disorders, organ transplants and orthopedics.

02/21/2026

Please send your best wishes to Esai! He’s doing well after three heart surgeries as a fetus and newborn baby!

In 2023, while Esai’s mom, Cassandra, was pregnant, doctors diagnosed him with a rare congenital heart defect called hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS). While still in the womb, Esai had a special procedure at our Fetal Treatment Center called a balloon valvuloplasty, a minimally invasive treatment that uses a small balloon to help open a narrowed heart valve and improve blood flow.

Esai was born early in April 2023 at 36 weeks, weighing 5 pounds. Right after birth, he had two heart surgeries with Dr. V. Mohan Reddy and stayed at our hospital for seven months before returning home to Coalinga.

Esai continues to work hard and is slowly reaching his milestones. He loves PAW Patrol, Moana and playing with his golden retriever, Chase!

02/14/2026

❤️ Happy Valentine’s Day, and from everyone at our hospitals!
Our patients celebrated with glitter tattoos; arts and crafts; and festive outfits and decorations throughout the hospital.
Facility dog Tulip even opened her very own kissing booth, giving patients and families a sweet spot to snap photos and share a smile. 🐶

02/12/2026

Please congratulate Ripley! He’s doing great 9+ years after his heart surgery!
When Ripley's mom, Shannon, was pregnant with him, an ultrasound at her local hospital in Fremont revealed a congenital heart condition called tetralogy of Fallot.
Shannon transferred to UCSF for care, where she gave birth to Ripley in August 2016. Ripley stayed in our Intensive Care Nursery for a week and was able to go home for a few weeks until his open-heart surgery with Dr. V. Mohan Reddy.
The surgery was a success, and Ripley recovered in the hospital for 10 days. During their stay, Shannon’s friend from college was Ripley’s pediatric cardiology nurse! “She was there for us and made a care package for us,” Shannon says. “To have someone you know taking care of your child — that was pretty special.”
Ripley is now 9 years old and in the 4th grade, and he's doing great! He loves soccer, learning to code and playing chess!

02/07/2026

🏈 This Super Bowl week, we welcomed NFL Hall of Fame head coach Tony Dungy and his wife, Lauren, along with former NFL players Dave DesRochers and Ken Simonton, to our hospitals through the nonprofit Super Baskets of Hope!

They surprised our patients with gift baskets filled with toys, art supplies, a teddy bear and books, including a children’s book written by Tony and Lauren Dungy! Thank you for bringing so much joy to our patients and families!

02/07/2026

Please congratulate Charlie — her scans are clear and she’s doing great after a battle with thyroid cancer at age 3!
In 2024, Charlie’s mom noticed a large bump on her daughter’s neck and tests revealed an abnormal platelet count in her blood. Charlie came to our Oakland hospital, where our specialists discovered thyroid cancer that had spread to her lymph nodes and lungs.
Our oncologists took a biopsy of the tumor and used the UCSF500 cancer gene test to quickly determine the best treatment for Charlie’s rare cancer, based on genetic information from her own tissue.
The test enabled Charlie’s UCSF care team to help her get a specialized surgery on the East Coast and then return to our hospital for medication-based treatment tailored just for her, with oncologist Dr. Natalie Wu.
Charlie is now 5 years old and has been in clinical remission for several months! She loves preschool, playing soccer and Disney princess. She was thrilled to travel to Disney World with her family as part of her Make-A-Wish!

02/05/2026

Eight years ago, our patient Andrew survived an AVM rupture and brain aneurysm. This week, he came back to our hospital to support other patients in an incredible way!
He donated 100+ games, 30 teddy bears and an adaptive bike to support our rehab patients!
Andrew spent three months at our San Francisco hospital recovering from brain surgery and relearning how to talk and walk. While in the hospital, games like UNO, Connect 4 and Jenga helped him rebuild his motor skills and stay engaged — and now, he’s sharing that same experience with other patients.
This month marks eight years since Andrew's stroke, and he has donated to patients at our hospital every year since!

01/30/2026

San Francisco Giants players Logan Webb, Erik Miller, Hayden Birdsong and Landen Roupp and Giants manager Tony Vitello visited with our patients and staff! ⚾️🧡

From signing baseball cards and hats to taking selfies with children, they helped create unforgettable moments for everyone! Thank you, Giants!

01/27/2026

We're celebrating the opening of the new Panda Cares Center of Hope at our Oakland hospital!
Made possible through the generosity of Panda Express and the Children's Miracle Network, the new space features a refreshed inpatient floor with a state-of-the-art rehabilitation gym; a teen lounge and in-house television studio; and an interactive school program.
We'll offer a range of programs in the beautiful space, including therapeutic play, art therapy, meditation and counseling services.
Thank you to Panda and Children's Miracle Network for helping us care for children's mental, emotional, physical and spiritual needs!

01/22/2026

Please congratulate Nancy! She rang our end-of-treatment bell surrounded by her care team and family, after multiple rounds of chemo for acute myeloid leukemia. Last August, Nancy came to our Oakland hospital from Fortuna, and our team diagnosed her with leukemia.
After four months in and out of our hospital receiving treatment, she’s heading home to Humboldt County — and her family couldn’t be more excited!
Nancy loves the outdoors, creating art and playing with her cousins. She also wanted to give a special shoutout to her amazing care team: nurse Jun; nurse practitioner Alice; and Dr. Jennifer Michlitsch!

01/16/2026

Please congratulate Silvia and Luca — both mother and son are doing great after a six-week stay at our hospital during Silvia's high-risk pregnancy!
In 2023, Silvia was pregnant with twins and came to our Fetal Treatment team for monitoring and care, when her OB doctors at another hospital discovered one twin was bigger than the other.
Sadly, our team discovered one baby had passed away. But an MRI revealed Luca was doing well and his brain was developing properly.
After experiencing bleeding due to two pregnancy complications called placenta previa and placenta accreta, Silvia checked into our labor and deliver unit on Dec. 30, 2023. She rang in 2024 in our hospital and stayed there until Luca’s birth at 35 weeks gestation in February 2024. During that time, Silvia’s husband marked their 10-year wedding anniversary by refurbishing her engagement ring and re-proposing in her hospital room! Silvia also walked several miles around the hospital each day, thanks to encouragement from nurse Delight Lee — and even had outdoor medical visits with her specialist, Dr. Mari Paule Thiet, in our Mission Bay garden.
After birth, Luca stayed in the hospital for five days receiving care, and the family met with a speech therapist in our ENT department who specializes in teaching preemies how to eat. Now a happy 18-month-old, Luca loves cars and anything that rolls! Silvia is also doing great and is still in touch with her nursing team!

01/15/2026

Huge thanks to our patient, Jayden, and his family! They came all the way from Bakersfield to donate a trailer full of toys to kids at our San Francisco hospital, for the second year in a row.
Jayden spent many days at our hospital with recurrent pancreatitis and severe abdominal pain. Eventually, he had surgery with us in 2023 to remove his inflamed pancreas and transplant clusters of insulin-producing cells back into his body to lessen diabetes effects.
Jayden is now doing great and loves giving back to other hospitalized children!

01/10/2026

Jonah is doing great after three heart surgeries at our hospital — please congratulate his family!
During Jonah's mom's 20-week anatomy scan at a hospital in Sunnyvale, doctors discovered a congenital heart defect and referred the family to UCSF for specialized care.
Jonah had his first heart surgery at just one week old and two more surgeries a few months later.
He spent six months in our San Francisco hospital receiving care and headed home just before Thanksgiving 2024!
Jonah also was born with an omphalocele, a condition in which abdominal organs develop outside the body, and fed from a tube for his first eight months of life.
He'll need more heart and abdominal surgeries in the future, but for now, he is thriving.
“He is so resilient and just has a smile that lights up the room,” Jonah's mom, Angel, says.

Address

San Francisco, CA
94158

Telephone

+18886898273

Website

http://www.ucsfbenioffchildrens.org/

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