The Shriners Hospital in Galveston is a 30-bed pediatric burn hospital providing comprehensive acute care and reconstructive and rehabilitative care to children who have been burned. There is no charge to the patient or family for any of the medical care or services provided by Shriners Hospitals. This hospital is one of 22 Shriners Hospitals throughout North America.
In 1919, at the Imperial Council Session (the annual Shrine convention) Shriners voted to establish a "Shriners Hospital for Crippled Children," to treat orthopaedic injuries, diseases and birth defects in children. It was to be supported by a yearly $2 assessment from each Shriner. The committee named to determine the site and personnel for the Shriners Hospital decided that there should be not just one hospital but a network of hospitals throughout North America. It was an idea that appealed to the Shriners, who liked to do things in a big and colorful way. The first Shriners Hospital opened in Shreveport, Louisiana, in 1922, and by the end of that decade, 13 more hospitals were in operation and then rising in numbers to 19 in 1985.
In 1996, Shrine Representatives voted to change the name of their philanthropy to "Shriners Hospitals for Children," reflecting the expanding scope of care provided by Shriners Hospitals. Today, the orthopaedic Shriners Hospitals serve as major referral centers for complex and highly specialized orthopaedic treatments for children. With the development of the polio vaccine and new antibiotics, Shriners were able to provide additional services and began to seek other ways they could help the children of North America. During the past three decades, Shriners Hospitals have been at the vanguard of research, significantly adding to the progress that has been made in orthopaedic and burn care.
Shriners Hospitals for Children in the U.S. are accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO). The Galveston Hospital is very well equipped and features highly qualified staff to treat acute burns, severe scarring, resulting in contractures or interfering with mobility of the limbs, scarring and deformity of the face and plastic reconstructive and restorative surgery for "healed" burns.