Hospital History

McMaster Children’s Hospital was founded in 1988. It is located at the McMaster University Medical Centre, and is part of the Hamilton Health Sciences family of hospitals.

Since April 2011, Mac Kids is the only hospital in Hamilton that provides care for children and youth. It is one of the top pediatric academic health science centres in Canada, and the second busiest pediatric hospital in Ontario.

Hospital Scope

McMaster Children’s Hospital recognizes that children’s health needs are unique, and that optimum health in childhood can prevent poor health later in life. Its staff care for our future, one child at a time.

Services for young patients include emergency care (ER), neonatal (NICU) and pediatric (PICU) intensive care, medical/surgical care Wards 3B, 3C, and 3Y, and outpatient clinics.

Young patients with virtually any illness can receive the best family-centered care possible at Mac Kids, thanks to the over 150 acute care beds and 40 subspecialty clinics (such as the 3E Centre for Child and Youth Digestive Health).

Each year, children and youth — from Hamilton, Halton, Brant, Guelph, Niagara and beyond — and their families make over 180,000 inpatient and outpatient visits to Mac Kids.

Focus on Digestive Health

The 3E Centre for Child and Youth Digestive Health (third floor, yellow area) operates outpatient clinics that care for patients with various pediatric gastrointestinal diseases, such as:

• inflammatory bowel disease
• liver disease
• celiac disease
• constipation
• cyclic vomiting syndrome

The Pediatric IBD Team follows patients with pediatric inflammatory bowel disease in the Pediatric IBD Clinic. In addition, the team participates in research and educational initiatives related to pediatric IBD.