Abstract:
The need for children’s specialty care was given sparse recognition prior to the last half of the twentieth century. At most, only about ten children’s hospitals existed that provided a full spectrum of care, and there were few pediatric subspecialists. Although CHILDREN FIRST: AN INSIDE LOOK AT THE GROWING CHANGES IN CHILDREN’S HEALTHCARE AND HOSPITALS portrays Jacksonville, Florida—one major urban area that developed a children’s hospital which could provide that full spectrum of care—this unfolding story reflects an analogous situation throughout the United States. The treatise also presents the challenge now and for the future in children’s hospitals and healthcare.