Kapiʻolani Medical Center for Women & Children provides specialized pediatric care for infants, children, and adolescents, including services for more complex and critical health needs. As Hawaiʻi’s only full-service children’s hospital, Kapiʻolani brings together pediatric specialists and advanced care teams focused on supporting children and their families.

Services include neonatal and pediatric intensive care, specialty clinics, and coordinated care for complex conditions. Outpatient pediatric specialty clinics are located both on the Kapiʻolani Medical Center campus and at the Hale Pāwaʻa Professional Services Building on South Beretania Street, offering families convenient access to care in central Honolulu.

Kapiʻolani serves as the hub for pediatric specialty care across Hawaiʻi Pacific Health, with specialists who work closely with pediatricians, family medicine physicians, and other care providers in clinics and communities statewide to help ensure children have access to the right level of care when it’s needed.

Child Life Services help children and families cope with the emotional and social challenges of hospitalization. Child life specialists support pediatric patients by explaining procedures in age-appropriate ways, promoting positive coping strategies, and providing play and activities that help reduce stress and anxiety.

They also work closely with families to support each child’s well-being and help preserve a sense of normalcy during the hospital stay.

Injury Prevention programs help keep children safe by providing education, resources, and support for families and caregivers. The team works to reduce preventable injuries through community outreach and guidance on topics such as home safety, water safety, safe transportation, and car seat safety checks.

In partnership with Kapiʻolani's Trauma Services team and community organizations, these programs help families learn practical ways to protect children and reduce the risk of injury at home and in the community.

The Diamond Head Tower at Kapiʻolani Medical Center for Women & Children is a 200,000-square-foot building consisting of five floors and a lower level for support services.

Emergency Department

Kapiʻolani has a team of board-certified pediatric emergency medicine physicians and adult emergency medicine physicians on-site 24/7. Together with Emergency Certified nursing staff and other health care professionals, they are equipped to care for bumps, bruises and broken arms as well as acute respiratory, trauma and critical care needs of adult and pediatric patients.

The Emergency department is the only Level III Pediatric Trauma Center serving Hawaiʻi and the Pacific region.

Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

At Kapiʻolani, we care for approximately 1,000 of the tiniest and most vulnerable infants in Hawaiʻi each year, with an average daily census of 73 babies.

Specialized procedures performed here include:

• ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation)
  EMCO provides oxygenation and circulation by taking the child’s blood, running it through a bypass machine, providing oxygen to the blood and returning it to the body.
• Whole Body Cooling
  This treatment has seen improved neurological outcomes for infants who have suffered a low-oxygen event during the birth process.

The NICU team is comprised of professional staff and medical personnel who are well trained and have experience in neonatal care, to include:

• Neonatologists
• Registered nurses
• Neonatal nurse practitioners
• Pediatric neonatal hospitalists
• Respiratory therapists
• Social workers
• Case Management
• Rehabilitation Services
• Lactation consultants
• Palliative care personnel
• Pastoral Care Services
• Registered dietitians
• Behavioral Health Services
• Pharmacists
• Other medical specialists and consultants as needed

We provide a specialized training academy for neonatal nurses.

Pediatric Intensive Care Unit

Our PICU serves nearly 500 children in Hawaiʻi each year ranging in age from 1 week to 21 years of age, with an average daily census of 11 patients. We provide a specialized training academy for PICU nurses who deliver special services that include but are not limited to:

• Open Heart Program (five times per year)
  Serves children with congenital heart defects or conditions that need non-surgical interventions.
• ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation)
  ECMO provides oxygenation and circulation by taking the child’s blood, running it through a bypass machine, providing oxygen to the blood and returning it to the body.
• Dialysis CRRT (Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy)
  Continuous 24/7 therapy where blood is dialyzed so that fluid as well as waste that would normally be excreted through a functioning kidney can be removed.
• Trauma
  We collaborate with Queen’s Medical Center to provide specialized pediatric postoperative care for any trauma, to include rehabilitative services.
• Transplant Program
  We collaborate with Queen’s Medical Center for solid organ transplant where the transplant surgery (kidney) is done at Queen’s Medical Center with our PICU nurse assisting in care postoperatively for the first 24 hours. We then transfer the patient to Kapiʻolani to provide specialized postoperative care.

Medical Surgical Unit

The Medical Surgical Unit (Med Surge) offers 12 private rooms for adult patients. Each room is equipped with telemetry monitoring capabilities for central monitoring at the nurses station. Med Surge serves the following:

• Oncology patients, to include chemotherapy.
• Post-surgical patients.
• Orthopedic patients.
• Pregnant patients less than 20 weeks gestation with medical surgical needs.
• Mothers of NICU babies requiring postpartum care.
• Postpartum moms who have experienced a loss.

Rehabilitation Services

The Colonel Harland Sanders Pediatric Rehabilitation Center is home to specialized programs and rehabilitation services for infants and children. Some highlights of the 8,000-square-foot facility include:

• A therapy gym area to promote motor development, strength, mobility, balance and coordination in a safe, therapeutic, kid-friendly environment.
• Multi-specialty room for an augmentative communication program for children who require an assistive device to communicate or customized equipment for seating and mobility.
• Exercise room for older children recovering from orthopedic surgery or sports injuries, or those who need an exercise plan for weight management.
• Occupational therapy splinting room designed for the fabrication of custom splints to prevent loss of range of motion for children in a coma or for burn management.
• Two speech therapy rooms with two-way mirrors and audio capacity for observation.
• Facilities for day program and neighbor island families to wait while their children are in extended therapy sessions.
• New staff work stations and offices, along with a staff lounge and conference room.

Pediatric care is provided through Straub Benioff clinics, with locations in communities across Oʻahu. These clinics offer convenient access for families, including routine visits, evaluation and treatment of illnesses, and management of ongoing health needs for children and adolescents.

Pediatricians at Straub Benioff clinics work closely with pediatric specialists at Kapiʻolani Medical Center for Women & Children to help coordinate care and facilitate referrals for more specialized services. This coordinated approach helps ensure children and families have access to the right care close to home, with connections to specialty care when needed.

Pediatric care on Kauaʻi is provided through Kauaʻi Medical Clinic, offering families convenient access to care close to home. Services include routine checkups, treatment of illnesses, and ongoing support for children’s growth and development, delivered by providers who understand the needs of the island’s communities.

Wilcox Medical Center and Kauaʻi Medical Clinic are committed to providing as much care locally as possible, helping to reduce the need for families to travel off island. When additional or specialized services are needed, providers work closely with pediatric specialists at Kapiʻolani Medical Center for Women & Children to coordinate care and support a seamless experience for patients and families.