Mission Statement:
Our mission is to help provide a higher quality of life for each Shrine
Hospital patient.
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History
Shriners Hospitals for Children is an international hospital system with
18 orthopaedic hospitals, three burn hospitals and one hospital providing
orthopaedic, burn and spinal cord care, located throughout the United
States, Canada and Mexico. All 22 Shriners Hospitals are dedicated to
providing advanced, specialized care to children under 18 years of age
absolutely free of charge.
Since its founding, the Shriners have always supported charitable activities,
and in the early 1900s, desire grew for the Shriners to establish its
own official philanthropy. Shriners at the 1919 Imperial Council Session
voted to establish a "Shriners Hospital for Crippled Children."
In 1922, the first Shriners Hospital opened in Shreveport, LA. It was
dedicated to treating orthopaedic injuries and birth defects in children.
By the 1930s, 13 more Shriners hospitals were in operation.
During the 1950s, at a time when Shriners orthopaedic hospitals alone
numbered 19, Shriners found themselves able to provide additional services.
They became aware of the lack of medical help for the thousands of children
who are disfigured or killed by severe burns each year. In the mid-1960s,
40 years after opening its first orthopaedic hospital, the Shrine opened
three hospitals specializing in burn care, each with a three-fold mission:
helping children, conducting burn research and training medical personnel
in the treatment of burns.
Although Shriners Hospitals have always been actively engaged in clinical
research, in the early 1960s, the Shriners began to earmark significant
funds for it. Since then, the Shriners have been the vanguard for orhtopeadic
and burn research. In the early 1990s, the Shriners opened the nation's
first spinal cord injury center expressly for children. Two more opened
soon after. At these Shriners hospitals, young people with spinal cord
injuries can find specialized medical care needed for rehabilitation,
as well as hope, inspiration and strength.
In 1996, Shriners representatives voted to change the name of their philanthropy
to "Shriners Hospitals for Children" to reflect the expanded
range of services provided.
Memorial
Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska, home of the HUSKERS has hosted this premier
post high school athletic event since the inception in l959 when the first
game was played in Omaha, NE and in 2004 when major construction at Memorial
Stadium forced a move to Seacrest Field in Lincoln. The Nebraska Shrine
Bowl has featured two Heisman Trophy winners and Outland Trophy winners
in addition to many All-Americans. We hope you find the information and
history presented informative. If you have any questions, please contract
us at shrinebowl@neshrinebowl.org.
Thank you.
Disclaimer:
The rules for all Shriners Hospitals are simple: Any child can be admitted
to a Shriners Hospital if, in the opinion of surgeons, the child can be
helped and if the child is under the age of 18. Shriners Hospitals are
open to all children without regard to financial ability or relationship
to a Shriner.
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