Nationwide Children’s Hospital employs more than 17,000 staff who handle more than 2 million patient visits annually and serves as home to the department of pediatrics of The Ohio State University College of Medicine. The hospital has earned a spot on U.S. News & World Report‘s “Best Children’s Hospitals” honor roll for 12 consecutive years and, as of 2026, ranks among the top 10 pediatric facilities in the country and No. 1 in both Ohio and the Midwest. Nationwide Children’s holds a five-time Magnet designation for nursing excellence, and its Abigail Wexner Research Institute ranks among the top 10 National Institutes of Health-funded freestanding pediatric research centers in the country. The hospital’s “Healthy Neighborhoods Healthy Families” initiative has developed or otherwise impacted more than 1,000 homes in Columbus since 2008, and its school-based health program has delivered care to 58,000 children during the school day since 2015. Nationwide Children’s is currently building a new inpatient tower, scheduled to open in phases between 2027 and 2028, with dedicated floors for the neonatal ICU, pediatric ICU, and hematology and oncology services. Researchers recently achieved a first-in-the-U.S. milestone with FDA authorization to begin trials for CAR-NK cells created using CRISPR and AAV technology to treat high-risk acute myeloid leukemia. The hospital also received a $16 million grant to lead school-based suicide prevention studies and launched a mental health training program in partnership with the Joe Burrow Foundation.
