Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center

Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center is a 225-bed children's hospital Located in Memphis, Tennessee. It has more than 500 medical staff representing 45 pediatric specialties. Its pediatric residency program is affiliated with the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. The children's hospital not only serves children from Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama and Arkansas but also serves patients from all over the world due to its nationally recognized brain tumor program. It is the home of the Children's Foundation Research Center.

History
Le Bonheur was founded in 1952 by the Le Bonheur Club, originally a women's sewing circle, and was originally an orphanage dedicated to caring for poor children. The Le Bonheur Club members raised all of the money for the initial investment for the hospital. When the doors opened on June 15, 1952, the Le Bonheur Club President Mrs. Howard Pritchard stated, "The doors of Le Bonheur will never be found closed and will forever hereafter be open to those who come in need, seeking its help."

Since 1952, the medical center has gone through two major expansion projects and is currently raising $100 million to build "the New Le Bonheur," to be located on the adjacent block due north of the present site.

In 1995, LeBonheur became a part of the Methodist Healthcare group. It is supported by the Memphis, Mississippi and Arkansas conferences of The United Methodist Church.

In 2007, Meri Armour, MSN, MBA was named president/chief executive officer.