2025 Annual Report
- Our people and culture Jump to our people and culture
- Clinical excellence Jump to clinical excellence
- Research and innovation Jump to research and innovation
- Community and advocacy Jump to community and advocacy
- Patient experience Jump to patient experience
- Education Jump to education
The year at a glance
Each year, team members across Children’s Hospital Colorado are called to realize our mission to improve the health of children through the provision of high-quality, coordinated programs of patient care, education, research and advocacy.
In 2025, we marked the end of one strategic plan and the beginning of a new one. We celebrated past accomplishments and began to plan for a future designed to improve child health like never before.
2025 by the numbers
Excellence in our field
We’re proud to continue a standard of excellence and earn recognition among the best children’s hospitals in the nation. Together, we are building a healthier world through research, a collaborative spirit, creativity and a tireless dedication to children.
Expanding and optimizing our system of care
Whether it’s through improvements to the care we offer or to our physical footprint, we are always working to better reach and serve kids and families.
We opened a new outpatient eye clinic at Fitzsimons Village Pavilion located in Aurora. The clinic offers coordinated outpatient care for kids with vision disorders, complex eye diseases and trauma.
In October, we opened a new inpatient adaptive playground for kids of all ability levels to enjoy, funded by Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton, our Association of Volunteers and the Children’s Hospital Colorado Foundation.
Our renovated behavioral health unit in the North Campus emergency department better serves kids who arrive at the ED with mental health concerns by allowing for a multidisciplinary care team to provide specialized care.
Our people and culture
Our team members and volunteers are here every day to heal, help, dream and do. Through compassion and expertise, we change lives and inspire hope. That approach to care is woven into the fabric of every team, from nurses and doctors to volunteers, administrators and beyond.
Meet our ‘DifferenceMakers’
Each member of our team contributes to building a culture where creativity, compassion, belonging and excellence thrive.
“Beyond providing resources, our role is also about building trust and connection to each family so that they can feel comfortable being vulnerable enough to talk about their needs.”
—Sonja Garcia, Health Navigator, Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders
“The bond on our flight team is a must. You really have to trust each other. You're with each other for 12 hours, just like you're at the bedside. It's a tight family."
—Claire Owens, Flight Nurse, Children's One
“We’re often the first people families see when they arrive. It’s our job to make them feel safe and cared for.”
—Heather Siemers, Guest Relations Lead, Children’s Colorado North Campus
“Every time we have a diagnosis, I sit with the family and acknowledge that there’s going to be a lot of really big feelings. But you’re not walking this journey alone; we don’t just send you off and say good luck. We’re here for you right now, and we’ll be here for as long as you need us.”
—Sarah Eaton, Nurse, Briargate Cardiology Clinic
“I love being helpful and working with children. What’s more important than helping other people?”
—Fran Hagman, Volunteer, Eating Disorder Program
“There is improvement work happening constantly and we’re working to make the hospital better. I think that being able to share that is a really neat aspect of my job."
—Adriana Jaime Castillo, Clinical Effectiveness Operations Coordinator
“A lot of people just want to be seen. Knowing their name, their routine, what they did last week, catching up on what Halloween costume they did. It’s an important human experience overall. And something that stood with me for a long time is that it’s not about what you can do — it’s about showing up. When you’re a kid, adults feel important, older and smarter. When an adult sees you, that’s very powerful.”
—Xavier Archuleta, Patient Registration Representative, Telstar Therapy Clinic
Clinical excellence
Our mission relies on our ability to continuously improve our clinical expertise and offerings to provide the most advanced treatments. In 2025, we expanded our capabilities, gained experience in existing ones, excelled in patient outcomes, and put quality and patient safety above all.
Recognizing clinical excellence
In 2025, five of our service lines ranked in the Top 10 nationwide, according to U.S. News & World Report.
Target Zero IN FOCUS
Building on our existing quality and patient safety campaign, Target Zero, we created a refreshed program to inspire everyday excellence. Each month’s Target Zero IN FOCUS Forum focuses on a different safety practice, incorporating panels of team members and caregivers to discuss their experiences.
Decreasing needle pain
PANDA UP stands for prepare, anxiety reduction, numb, distract, attitude, use one voice and position. This initiative provides a helpful acronym that supports team members in decreasing pain and anxiety associated with needle pokes. By the end of the year, 62% of IV starts used the PANDA UP model, compared with 50% at the start of 2025.
Preventing suicide through a new approach
Our Preventing Suicide Initiative takes a comprehensive approach to reducing suicidal behavior by making our healthcare settings safer and more responsive to suicide risk. It encompasses five workstreams, including workforce training and development, screening and care delivery, team member prevention, intervention and postvention, community and research. Through this work, our team consistently achieves above a 90% primary screening rate in our emergency and inpatient settings.
Improving patient care across the system
Through numerous quality and safety initiatives, we advanced our care, reached new milestones and laid the foundation for a future of continued improvement.
In 2025, a cross-functional team laid the groundwork for our new Center for Transformative Therapeutics. Its goal is to provide a system-wide framework to safely deliver high-risk, operationally complex transformative therapies.
After years of preparation, our transplant team performed its first dual heart and liver transplant. Thanks to collaboration across surgery, cardiology, hepatology and more, the team was ready when an 11-year-old needed them most.
Our mental health team streamlined emergency care by creating a split-flow model that identifies behavioral health crisis severity to connect kids with the right level of care. We also created a new program to help kids transition out of acute care seamlessly.
Research and innovation
Here, we have never been complacent in our pursuit of research — it’s woven into the fabric of who we are. It’s at the core of our mission, brought to life by every team member.
*Source: 2025 Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research
Research from bench to bedside
B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) is a common and mostly curable cancer. But the chemotherapy used to treat it can be hard on kids’ bodies. A new immunotherapy called blinatumomab is becoming the new standard of care in treating B-ALL.
By continuously monitoring immune responses and circulating pathogens, the PREMISE study works to improve our understanding of emerging and re-emerging pathogen dynamics to more effectively prepare for future potential threats.
Children’s Colorado enrolled participants in a wide variety of cystic fibrosis (CF) studies on topics including rare CF gene variants and therapies focused on early treatment and quality-of-life improvements. Across all of them, we had high enrollment that has been essential to success.
As a leading site for federally funded studies on youth-onset Type 2 diabetes (T2D), our team helped uncover how and why the disease behaves so differently in children. From helping define the problem to reshaping treatment protocols and leading prevention-focused studies, we are at the forefront of the fight against youth-onset T2D.
Over the last year, our whole-genome sequencing lab has helped us grow in pharmacogenomics, a field of study that seeks to understand how a person’s genetic makeup influences their response to medications. Testing patients for certain gene variants before prescribing medications can prevent potentially catastrophic outcomes and ensure the drugs work as intended.
Community and advocacy
We know that every child's well-being is deeply connected to the health and wellness of their community. To provide complete care for our children, we must also understand and care for our local neighborhoods. By nurturing our communities and becoming part of them, we can better advocate for kids and get closer to fulfilling our mission to improve child health.
Our world-class care is fueled by giving
As a nonprofit pediatric hospital, Children’s Colorado is fueled by donors. None of our work would be possible without generous community members who believe that a child’s life can and should be filled with limitless possibilities.
Achieving change through government affairs
In 2025, our team addressed shifts in Medicaid and vaccine schedules to ensure our patients were represented among the many voices speaking on these important policy issues. We advocated through our annual Youth Mental Health Action Day at the Colorado State Capitol, where we supported cell phone policies in schools, among other initiatives. We also launched a “Public Policy Updates” newsletter to keep team members informed on the news that affects us.
Measuring community impact
Learn more about our community health priorities and the wide variety of programs, partnerships and initiatives we have in place to improve the health of kids and families.
Partnering with the Denver Broncos
For more than a decade, we have partnered with another staple of our community, the Denver Broncos. Together, we team up to bring joy to children and families.
New practice model strengthens community provider network
Three years ago, we began working with several community pediatricians in our Pediatric Care Network to explore different models for care. From that work, we landed on a group practice entity, or GPE. We launched our GPE in early 2025. The goal of this model is to help strengthen our community practices on many different levels, while also allowing them to manage day-to-day operations independently with minimal oversight.
Bringing care closer to home
At Children’s Colorado, we believe access to quality pediatric care should not be limited by geography. Through our Care Alliance, we partner with health organizations throughout the region to ensure more kids and families receive the care they need closer to home.
We also have regional clinics where our pediatric specialists see kids for specialty care. This allows us to serve families close to home and collaborate with pediatric primary care providers in more communities.
In 2025, our Regional Clinics:
Completed 1,379 clinic sessions across 14 specialties
Served families in 18 cities and 2 states
Children’s Colorado also expanded access to care with 96,889 telehealth visits to patients in their homes or in a clinic setting close to home.
Patient experience
This is an extraordinary place. When a child walks through our doors, they feel it in an instant. This is a place just for them. We have been on healing journeys with children and families for more than 100 years, so we understand that experience better than any other hospital.
Here, it’s different
This isn’t just a hospital — it’s a place of hope, healing and sometimes even joy. Here are a few of the moments that helped us bring a little extra light into our patients’ lives. Our efforts led to 88.2% of our patients and families giving us a satisfaction score of 9 or 10 out of 10.
Kiddos help us break ground on our newest onsite playground.
Patients and families celebrate Pride Month with Meow Wolf monsters and art projects.
We brought together kids for a red carpet premier of “How to Train Your Dragon,” with special guest, Toothless.
Paralympic athletes visit our hospital to meet with and inspire kids in our care.
Our patients celebrate prom at Coors Field, complete with hair, makeup, sparkling dresses and dapper tuxes.
Past patients from our Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders reunite for a fun day at the Denver Zoo.
Myles celebrates ringing the warrior bell with his family and care team.
Former patient Makenna unveils a colorful mural she made out of Legos for our South Campus location.
Our pack is growing
In 2025, we added another “dog-tor” to the team to help ease the stress and anxiety kids experience during medical tests and procedures. Saunders, MD (medical dog), and the rest of the pack are an invaluable part of our team.
Reaching our Spanish-speaking community
Last year, we launched a new Spanish-language website to better support our Spanish-speaking patients and families. The site includes key content, such as a symptom checker, department list and more.
Stories that inspire
Here, everything we do is for kids and their families. Their journeys fuel us in the work we do every day, and we are grateful to be a part of their stories.
How a Dual Heart-Liver Transplant Saved Gracie’s Life
When Gracie’s single-ventricle disease necessitated both a heart and liver transplant, our team began preparing to complete both surgeries at the same time.
Anna-Gray: A Full Life with Adult Congenital Heart Disease
In her 20s, Anna-Gray is learning what treatment for congenital heart disease looks like for an adult — and why it’s best at Children’s Colorado.
Jake: Defying Deep Vein Thrombosis
As a young athlete, Jake was diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis. The condition is not only rare, but also mysterious. See how our experts have helped him thrive.
Ava: Sharing Her Asthma Treatment Journey to Help Others
What does asthma feel like? Watch as Ava and her family share their asthma journey with a newly diagnosed patient with asthma.
Ainsley: How the Microtia Clinic Built a Foundation of Confidence
For the first time, Ainsley met kids that looked like her and built confidence she didn’t know was possible — thanks to the Microtia Clinic at Children’s Hospital Colorado.
Carolyn: A Soccer Star Shares Her Story from ACL Tear to Recovery
Carolyn is back on the soccer field after overcoming an ACL tear. Watch as she shares her ACL surgery journey with Erin, a soccer athlete who recently tore her ACL.
Declan: A Nurse Experiences a Coarctation of the Aorta as a Parent
When doctors found signs of a congenital heart defect in her son, a PICU nurse experienced what it’s like to be on the other side of care.
Wyatt: Achieving Milestones with Achondroplasia
Wyatt was born with achondroplasia and multiple respiratory conditions landed him in the hospital. See how he pulled through and is thriving as a little person today.
Cameron: Conquering Clubfoot
While both Cameron’s parents were born with clubfoot, that didn’t necessarily mean he would be too. But at just 15 days old, he began treatment. See how years later, Cameron is thriving.
Conor: Looking Beyond Congenital Heart Disease Care
Conor’s story shows how our cardiac care goes beyond the heart and addresses neurodevelopment for children with congenital heart disease.
Rowan: Diagnosing Pediatric Cancer Using Genetic Testing
Rowan’s rare pediatric cancer diagnosis took time, but thanks to genetic testing and precision medicine, a targeted immunotherapy is helping him heal.
Charlotte: Surpassing Expectations After Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy
When she was born, doctors feared Charlotte would never walk. Now, she’s thriving in gymnastics, the classroom and everywhere else. Read her story.
Education
At Children’s Colorado, we believe growth and knowledge advance our ability to offer care that not only improves patient outcomes and experiences but also helps our team members realize their full potential. As an academic center, we also focus on sharing what we learn, because we believe that when it comes to child health, we’re all in this together.
From our accredited continuing medical education offerings to grand rounds and more, we’re dedicated to strengthening providers’ knowledge, so kids everywhere can have access to quality care.
Tune in to our podcasts, Charting Pediatrics and Pediatras en Línea, to hear our experts share breakthroughs, insights and news about children's health.
Our series of medical education videos supports ongoing learning for pediatric providers. Learn from our experts about the advanced treatments and specialized clinical care we provide.
Education through simulation
Sim Wars is an annual, themed edutainment event during which teams from across our system of care come together to compete in simulated resuscitations of fictional patients. The event showcases our team members’ creativity, innovation and teamwork, with our commitment to patient safety at the heart of it all.
Become part of our team
Are you inspired to join our team? Become part of an inclusive and welcoming community where your experience and expertise are valued.
View previous annual reports
This year's successes were built on years of work, progress and dedication. Learn about the moments that got us to 2025 by reading our past annual reports.