On Christmas Eve in 1928, the manager of the Sheridan Square Theater in Pittsburgh found an abandoned baby girl in his theater. A note signed Heartbroken Mother pleaded: Please take care of my baby. Her name is Catherine. I can no longer care for her. I have eight others. My husband is out of work. She was born on Thanksgiving Day. I have always heard of the goodness of show business and I pray you will look after my little girl. Variety Club, Tent #1, an 11-member club composed of show business people, was meeting that night. The group agreed to care for the infant and because of Catherine, unfortunate, needy children became the special interest of show business professionals.
In the 1940s, Miami Tent #33 of Variety Clubs International was founded. Its goal was to help indigent children. Variety Club soon joined forces with a new hospital that was being built outside Coral Gables and in need of financial assistance. On March 20, 1950, just as the polio epidemic was encompassing the United States, Variety Childrens Hospital was dedicated and opened to serve patients. It was soon deemed the southern center for persons suffering from polio.
Renamed Miami Childrens Hospital in 1986, this once small facility has become a non-profit, freestanding hospital renowned for excellence in all aspects of medical care from birth through adolescence. A medical staff numbering over 600, and centers of excellence in cardiology, hematology/oncology, neuroscience, pulmonology, preventive medicine and intensive care have also helped the hospital become a world leader in medical education. The tele-education program reaches more than 70 sites in Latin America and the Caribbean. Our focus is always on advancements in pediatric medicine.