Comprehensive Women's & Children's Services

History was made on the site of what would eventually become our California Campus in 1875 when it opened as the first hospital created by women, for women. The hospital was the brainchild of Charlotte Blake Brown, M.D., who wanted to become a physician so fiercely that she left her husband and three children in Napa to go east and earn a medical degree. After her return to San Francisco in 1874 and facing resistance to female physicians, she enlisted a group of prominent San Francisco women to support her extraordinary idea. By 1887, Dr. Brown expanded her mission to include children and the training of nurses.

By 1955, adult men also began receiving care on this campus, but women’s and children’s needs remained a focal point with services like Obstetrics, Gynecology and Child Development featuring prominently. With the move of Pediatrics back into refurbished space on the California Campus in Spring 2007, the site comes full circle – very close to its original roots.

Because life is precious, we encourage giving to life and a lifetime of giving.