Wilhelmina Children's Hospital
Nieuwegracht 137
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The Utrecht Children's Hospital was established in 1888 at Oude Kerkstraat 28-30. It was founded by six prominent Utrecht citizens who had raised money for a hospital for children with poor parents. There was room for 8 or 9 children; in 1890 this was expanded to 20 to 30 patients. From that moment onwards, the hospital expanded rapidly. In 1895 the hospital bought its first incubator and in 1897 it was renamed Wilhelmina Children's Hospital (WKZ). Just one year later, the hospital moved to the Nieuwegracht. At that time, there was room for as many as 70 children, and by 1900 there was room for 350 patients! The growth did not stop here. The WKZ was ambitious and would go on to do much more to cure children and young people in the centrury that was yet to come.
In 1935 an "Polyclinic for Children's Diseases" was opened, for children who did not need to stay in the hospital overnight. After World War II, the WKZ developed into a children's hospital where research was conducted as well. In the 1950s, for example, important research was conducted on the cause and treatment of celiac disease (gluten allergy). In 1977, the first open-heart surgery was performed at the WKZ, by South African heart surgeon Francis Hitchcock. Over the next two decades, the WKZ became one of the top clinics for pediatric cardiac surgery. In 1977, the first pediatric immunology laboratories were established. Ten years later, in 1987, the first stem cell transplant was performed at the WKZ.
In 1999 the hospital merged with the Academic Hospital Utrecht and the medical faculty of the university. The WKZ moved to the Uithof (now Science Park Utrecht). And like that, the UMC Utrecht was formed.
