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.

04/09/2026

Our patient, Mason, reunited with Dr. Hanmin Lee, the surgeon who saved his life before he was born 19 years ago!
In 2007, when Mason’s mother, Rosemary, was 20 weeks pregnant, doctors in Michigan discovered her unborn baby had a life-threatening birth defect called a congenital diaphragmatic hernia.
Local doctors told the family the baby likely would not survive.
Thankfully, a resident in Michigan referred them to UCSF, and Dr. Lee performed a two-part fetal surgery to save the Mason's life.
Mason was born in Michigan by emergency C-section a little more than a week later and spent the first three months of his life in a local hospital. He went home on oxygen and with a feeding tube, but gradually overcame his health challenges.
Today, Mason is thriving and excited to graduate from high school this June! He and his family visited Northern California for spring break, where they hiked in Yosemite and explored the Bay Area. The reunion with Dr. Lee made the trip even more meaningful.
“It’s hard to put into words just how awesome of an experience that was,” Mason’s father, Travis, said after the visit.

04/04/2026

Please congratulate Tristan! He’s doing well nearly three decades after a liver transplant at just three years old!

When Tristan was two months old, he visited his local pediatrician in Marin for a routine well-baby appointment, and his doctor noticed jaundiced eyes and a hard liver. She sent Tristan and his family to UCSF, where our team diagnosed him with a congenital liver condition called biliary atresia, which prevents bile from leaving the liver.

That same day, Tristan had a “Kasai” procedure to attach his liver to his intestine, followed by a second surgery a few months later. About three years later, Tristan unfortunately experienced an esophageal bleed, and his doctors decided it was time for a liver transplant. His dad originally planned to be his donor, but that same month a donor liver became available, and Tristan had a successful surgery.

Tristan has been stable since age five and loves creating surveys, playing online computer games and visiting theme parks, especially ones with a Christmas theme, as well as seeing Santa and the Easter Bunny at the mall!

He also has autism and lives at home with his parents. The family adores attending the annual Chris Mudge UCSF Pediatric Transplant Picnic in Marin, so they can catch up with Tristan’s care team!

04/02/2026

Huge thanks to heart patient, Megan! She's celebrating the 10-year anniversary of her heart transplant by donating art supplies to our hospitals in San Francisco and Oakland!
In 2012 at just eight years old, Megan became seriously ill, and her local doctors discovered she had dilated cardiomyopathy, a disease that affects the heart’s ability to pump blood. She came to our Oakland hospital and spent three weeks receiving care, mostly in the intensive care unit.
Several years later, Megan had a heart transplant at another hospital and went on to finish high school and graduate from UC Berkeley last year! Megan and her family recently started the Megan Mehta Family Foundation to give back to hospitalized kids by donating art supplies and other goodies. Megan’s goal is to provide creative outlets for other sick children to express feelings during challenging times.

03/30/2026

👏 Happy to all the exceptional physicians who care for children every day of the year! ❤️

03/27/2026

🥳 Our hospital prom gives teens with serious health issues the chance to dance and celebrate in a safe, comfortable environment! This year's prom is coming up in April, and we have an immediate need for decorations, accessories and other items to make the event a success!
Please consider donating items via our Amazon wishlists:
Our Oakland children's hospital wishlist ➡️ https://ucsfh.org/3vSgJhH
Our San Francisco children's hospital wishlist ➡️ https://ucsfh.org/4i1rO2a

03/26/2026

Our social workers help sick kids and their families cope with a hospitalization or illness every day (and night) of the year. Please wish them a happy ! ❤️

03/20/2026

Happy to our exceptional Child Life and Creative Arts teams! They help sick kids and their families feel at home in the hospital through play, music and art therapy, education and more!

03/17/2026

Please congratulate Simon! He's doing great after surgery for a broken ankle that required two pins. In July 2024, Simon was playing tag with his triplet brother when he injured his ankle. He went to a hospital in the Walnut Creek area, where doctors confirmed he had a bad fracture in his left tibia.

Because Simon and his family were familiar with UCSF, his mom brought him to our hospital for surgery.

Simon is an active teen with Down syndrome who loves playing soccer and swimming; wrestles for his high school team; and previously competed with the Special Olympics basketball team.

After his surgery, Simon began physical therapy, and thanks to his hard work and the support of his care team, he’s now back to all his activities, with no limitations on his ankle.

During physical therapy, Simon’s therapist, Carly, even helped him practice choreography for his starring role in a “Shrek” play and later came to see his performance.

This June, Simon will represent Northern California at the Special Olympics USA Games, where he will compete in breaststroke and freestyle swimming!

03/14/2026

👏 Please help us cheer on Adan — this July he’ll be celebrating two years of remission from childhood cancer!

In 2022, doctors in Adan’s home state of Oregon diagnosed him with hepatoblastoma liver cancer at just nine months old, and he started chemo and had surgery.

Despite that treatment, Adan’s cancer unfortunately spread all the way to his lung, and he came to our hospital for care with Dr. Sue Rhee and our Pediatric Gastroenterology and Liver team. He had a life-saving liver transplant with us in 2023.

Following months of recovery, additional chemotherapy and two lung surgeries with Dr. Amar Nijagal to treat recurrences, our team was able to remove the cancer while preserving Adan's lung. On July 10, 2024, Adan completed treatment with no further chemo needed.

Today, Adan is growing and thriving back home in Portland! He continues to work hard in therapy following treatment-related hearing loss and loves the outdoors and hiking, as well as music, letters, numbers and playing with balls!

03/13/2026

Our patients enjoyed a special screening of Pixar’s latest film, Hoppers! They watched from their rooms and gathered in the cafeteria for a movie-day experience complete with popcorn, arts and crafts and plenty of smiles. 🎬🍿

Daniel Chong, the film’s director, joined artists from Pixar Animation Studios to visit patients’ beds and the cafeteria, creating custom illustrations of their favorite Disney and Pixar characters. Tom Lizard from the film even made a special appearance, delivering illustrations to patients who were unable to leave their rooms and stopping for photos along the way! 🦎

Thank you, Disney and Pixar, for bringing so much joy to our hospitals!

03/07/2026

Please congratulate Blake — he’s happy and healthy after surviving neuroblastoma cancer and a life-threatening fungal infection!
In February 2021, doctors in the Central Valley diagnosed 3-year-old Blake with stage 4 high-risk neuroblastoma, an aggressive cancer that affects infants and young kids. He began chemo the next day and had surgery a couple of months later to remove a large tumor from his adrenal gland.
Blake came to our Mission Bay hospital in April to harvest his cells for two bone-marrow transplants, which he received in the fall. Blake had to stay in the hospital for Christmas unexpectedly, but his day nurse, Julie, brought him a Christmas tree, and his doctors gave him ornaments.
Unfortunately, Blake continued to have health problems and developed a fungal infection on his cheek (for which he’ll eventually need reconstructive surgery) and bleeding in his lungs. After two months of sedation and a tracheotomy, Blake woke up, and his doctors capped his trach so his lungs could begin working.
“He immediately began to sing his favorite song,” his mom says. Blake worked with a physical therapist to walk again and was happy to go home the day before his sister’s birthday! He finished treatment in January 2022!
Now Blake is in third grade and loves playing video games and teasing his sisters. He also likes board games, especially Trouble!

03/06/2026

Our patient, Heather, is a heart attack survivor and came back to visit her UCSF care team and donate stuffed animals, toys and shirts to other hospitalized kids!
Three years ago, Heather's heart stopped while she was at school. She survived after receiving CPR, four AED shocks and being airlifted to our Oakland hospital. Our team discovered damage in the lower portion of Heather's heart and transported her to our Mission Bay hospital, where she had heart surgery and received an implantable defibrillator to regulate her heart.
Heather visited our hospital wearing her Miss San Joaquin County’s Teen sash, crown and dress after winning the title this year.
During the visit, Dr. Karyn Austin surprised Heather with the news that Make-A-Wish will help her achieve her wish to break the world record for training the most people in CPR in a single day!

Address

San Francisco, CA
94158

Telephone

+18886898273

Website

http://www.ucsfbenioffchildrens.org/

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