Kid-friendly Experience. World-class Care.

Photos courtesy of Mayo Clinic

A hospital where young patients feel at home.

The team at Mayo Clinic Children’s Center features a diverse group of caregivers who are experts in pediatric care—and at treating kids like kids. From waiting rooms filled with children’s activities to family-friendly appointment scheduling, they go above and beyond to deliver best in class care families expect when they walk through the door.

Mayo Clinic Children’s Center includes one of the largest pediatric teams in the country, along with the full resources of Mayo Clinic behind them. With promising therapies and advanced research in a wide variety of highly specialized areas, it has become a destination for families seeking the highest level of care in an environment designed to help kids thrive.

Extensive experience treating rare conditions.

At Mayo Clinic Children’s Center, uncommon conditions are common. Doctors and their teams regularly see the most complex cases and are experts at helping patients achieve the best results possible physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Being born with rare congenital differences can have a big impact on a child’s self-esteem and mental health. It’s also not unusual for parents to feel alone when their children are born with rare conditions, and it’s even more common when they impact the head, face, or neck. Families who visit the Children’s Center learn that they are not alone, and more importantly, discover that there is a great deal of hope for their children to achieve results that improve both function and aesthetics.

Advanced treatments improve young lives.

When children are born with congenital differences, early detection makes a big difference. Doctors are now able to identify many conditions before a baby is even born, which allows them to discuss treatment options with families and make plans before the child arrives.

Although early detection and treatment is ideal, Mayo Clinic Children’s Center successfully treats young patients of all ages with advanced care treatments that are unavailable at most other hospitals in the region. Innovative techniques like minimally invasive surgeries, imaging that utilizes low-dose radiation, and interventional radiology are being pioneered at the Children’s Center to help children with a wide variety of conditions gain restored mobility, function, and a natural appearance.

Craniosynostosis: Mayo Clinic surgeons have developed new techniques that reduce the number of incisions necessary to correct craniosynostosis, a condition that causes children’s skulls to fuse before their brains are fully formed. In some cases, they’ve even eliminated surgery altogether by using custom helmets that help shape the head.

Craniofacial surgery and ear reconstruction: Doctors at Mayo Clinic Children’s Center are pioneering advancements in ear reconstruction surgeries, including using implants that make the procedure less invasive by eliminating the need to harvest rib cartilage. Additionally, new techniques for facial reanimation surgeries such as eyelid restoration are helping patients achieve long-term results that improve function and aesthetic appearance and eliminate the need for future procedures.

3-D printing technology is also allowing doctors to be more precise than ever when performing surgeries in sensitive areas like the head, face, and neck. Doctors can use exact replicas of individual patients to simulate and plan for procedures down to the millimeter. Mayo Clinic has the unique ability to produce many of these models on site, which expedites planning and other steps in the process.

Vascular birthmarks: Groundbreaking lymphatic imaging techniques are helping doctors diagnose, evaluate, and treat vascular birthmarks with greater accuracy than ever before. Additionally, minimally invasive MRI guided ablation is helping patients avoid surgery or provide solutions in cases where surgery isn’t recommended.

Cleft lip and palate: A wealth of experience over many years makes the Children’s Center one of the leading providers of treatments for cleft lip and palate. Doctors are also taking a unique approach of partnering with orthodontists to use a new pre-surgical technique called nasoalveolar molding, which involves creating an insert that favorably shapes tissues to make surgeries correcting cleft lip and palate even more successful.

One location. Many experts.

Having a wide variety of specialists in one place makes the Children’s Center more convenient for families. When children need to see multiple doctors, the scheduling team works to coordinate appointments on the same day, so families don’t have to make multipletrips. Additionally, schedulers reserve early morning appointments for families with infants and young children to reduce the amount of time the youngest patients spend in waiting rooms.

A multidisciplinary approach is another way the Children’s Center helps families get the best care possible, as efficiently as possible. When a provider needs input from someone outside their own specialty, they are often able to consult with another expert without the need for a separate appointment. Collaboration across specialties leads to more accurate diagnosis, better treatment plans, and the best possible results for patients.

Care that goes beyond treatment.

The mental health of children and their families is equally important as providing the right treatment. For children, this means creating an environment where they feel comfortable and at ease. Amenities like play spaces, family lounges, aromatherapy, and even special visits from therapy dogs are all special touches designed to help children through treatment.

For parents, the Children’s Center creates support groups that connect families who are going through similar experiences. This helps them cope with the emotions of treatment and anticipate what’s coming so they can be prepared for each step of their child’s care journey.

Helping families re-imagine what’s possible.

From diagnosis to treatment and beyond, families who need complex medical care for their children find hope at Mayo Clinic Children’s Center. Through a unique combination of innovation, collaboration and compassion, children who visit get the best care possible to help them grow up and reach their full potential.