MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – Children’s Minnesota celebrated a century of dedicated service to children on Monday, with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz proclaiming it “Children’s Minnesota Day” as staff and patients commemorated the milestone.

It’s a remarkable journey from a tiny house with just sixteen beds in 1924 to now, where 150,000 children are treated annually at the children’s hospital. This vision that began a century ago has expanded into two hospitals, twelve clinics, and nine specialty care sites.

Dr. Marc Gorelick, President and CEO of Children’s Minnesota, reflects on the continuous commitment, saying, “There’s not been a single day over the past hundred years where Children’s Minnesota has not been here for kids.”

The celebration also included personal stories of care and recovery, with Gov. Walz sharing that his nephew was treated for a brain infection at Children’s.

“Ended up here with a brain infection that probably no one in America could have fixed except this place,” said the governor. “It’s been a battle but it’s one I don’t fight alone. Thanks to Children’s Minnesota, I have a medical team that’s more like family,” said Mikayla Droughon, a patient fighting sickle cell.

Children’s Minnesota prides itself on a family-like atmosphere where everyone shares a passion for caring for children. Dr. Gorelick highlighted the collective effort, “It’s the wonderful and fantastic kid experts who work here, it’s the patients and families that we are here for, and it’s the community who supports us. That’s been the secret to our success for the last hundred years and it’s going to be the secret to our success going forward.”