Since the building that houses Shriners Children’s Northern California is directly across the street from the UC Davis Medical Center on Stockton Boulevard, it may be tempting to believe that Shriners Children’s is a branch medical office. 

Nothing could be further from the truth. This eight-story building, which opened its doors in 1997, is a self-contained, full-service, one-stop care facility with close to 600 employees, most of whom are either clinical or clinical support people. 

“All of us have one thing in common, which is to provide the best possible care and hope for children with very complex conditions when they need it the most.” -Alan Anderson, Director of Development

“Consistent with our focus on care for children, the majority of our staff are surgeons, medical specialists and nurses, some of whom we share with our affiliate, UC Davis Health System,” says Alan Anderson, who’s been director of development for Shriners Children’s since 2007. “Sometimes it feels as though I just got here because it still feels so new and exciting and important.”  

Anderson says other myths about Shriners Children’s include the belief that “the 12,500 kids we served last year were referred to us because of our role as a health care safety net provider. Not true. We accept all children who are 18 years and younger who would benefit from our services.”

Anderson says Shriners Children’s draws kids “from throughout Northern California, but also from 30 additional American states and territories — Honolulu to Boston — and from other countries. They’re referred here because of the all-encompassing medical care we provide, plain and simple.” 

Shriners Children’s partners with a number of boldface names in the nonprofit and community organization sector, including the Firefighters Burn Institute, Kiwanis House, Ronald McDonald House Charities and The Perry Initiative, an outreach program that connects female medical students to orthopedic surgeon mentors and peers. 

“All of us have one thing in common,” Anderson says, “which is to provide the best possible care and hope for children with very complex and sometimes very rare medical conditions when they need it the most. Financial barriers don’t exist here.”