Everything we do is for kids In 2014, UCSF affiliated with Children's Hospital Oakland, bringing together two respected health care organizations with a common and valiant mission: to provide the highest-quality health care to all children in our communities, regardless of any identified status, including race, religion or financial status. When you step through our doors, you'll feel our passion for that mission. Our Oakland and San Francisco hospitals focus exclusively on caring for children. We know the treatment protocols that work best for kids, and our doctors, nurses and other care providers work with young patients – from preemies to young adults – every day. We see the subtle things that others might miss, and we can find where it hurts when a child is too young to tell us. We also know that it takes more than advanced treatments and technologies to heal a child: It takes an entire organization focused on all the child's needs, including the need to simply be a kid. That's why, along with some of the world's most sophisticated medical therapies, you'll find a music therapist working with children at their bedside, a pediatric anesthesiologist using toys to relax a toddler before surgery, a team of specialists supporting a young adult with a chronic condition through the transition from pediatric to adult care, and an array of other comforts for our patients and their families. To further our mission of serving kids, we invest heavily in research to discover better ways to treat and prevent childhood diseases. Many of our providers conduct research or work closely with others who are making groundbreaking medical discoveries. Through such endeavors as our sickle cell disease research program, we're able to quickly translate research into better health outcomes for some of the most vulnerable children in our communities. In addition to our world-class medical care, the compassion of our doctors, nurses and other staff members is key to our mission. We receive countless letters of gratitude from patients and their families, a true measure of the valuable and caring service we provide.