1935: Through his last will and testament, Alfred I. duPont, industrialist, scientist, musician, inventor and philanthropist, established a Trust which provided for the formation of The Nemours Foundation, named for the duPont family’s beloved homeland in France.
1936: The Nemours Foundation, a nonprofit organization devoted to the health of children, is incorporated in Florida.
1940: The Alfred I. duPont Institute is opened in Wilmington, Delaware under the medical direction of Alfred R. Shands, MD. The Nemours Foundation’s first health care institution, it quickly becomes world re-known for clinical and research excellence in the field of pediatric orthopedics.
1968: Dr. Dean McEwen succeeded Dr. Shands as medical director of the Alfred I. duPont Institute.
1976: Nemours Board of Directors expanded the Institute’s mission to encompass more pediatric diseases.
1979: First phase of the Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Delaware is completed.
1981: Nemours established Nemours SeniorCare to provide programs and health services including dental, vision and hearing, for low-income seniors throughout the state of Delaware. View website »
1981: Nemours purchased the Hope Haven Children’s Hospital in Jacksonville, Florida.
1982: Nemours announced its first President & CEO, W. Jeffrey Wadsworth.
1983: Nemours Children’s Clinic opened in Wilmington, Delaware, a complementary outpatient and ambulatory care facility adjacent to the Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children.
1984: The Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children is completed.
1991: Nemours Children’s Clinic, a comprehensive pediatric subspecialty ambulatory care system is opened in Jacksonville, Florida.
1995: The award-winning KidsHealth.org is created through the Nemours Center for Children’s Health Media, offering millions of parents, kids and teens trusted health information from leading pediatric experts.
1996: Nemours Children’s Clinic is opened in Orlando, Florida.
1996: Nemours Children’s Clinic is opened in Pensacola, Florida.
2002: Nemours Board of Directors expanded the Foundation’s mission adding “leadership” as an avowed part of its purpose and deleting the limiting words “acute” and “chronic.”
2002: To support the expanded mission, a new operating division, Nemours Health & Prevention Services, is chartered to articulate and exercise holistic health and preventive care for children, beginning in Delaware.
2005: Nemours celebrated the fifth anniversary of deploying a fully integrated electronic medical record, integrating an unprecedented 20 specialties across our children’s health system.
2005: Nemours BrightStart! Dyslexia Initiative is launched in Duval County, Florida, to provide free screening and intervention services for preschoolers at risk of reading difficulties.
2005: Nemours announced plans to seek regulatory approval to build a free-standing children’s hospital in Orlando, Florida.
2006: Nemours Board of Directors welcomed six new members, who in addition to Richard Christopher who was appointed a year earlier, became a majority of “non-Trustees” to help fully realize the design of Nemours as a leading children’s health system.
2006: David J. Bailey, MD, MBA, succeeded W. Jeff Wadsworth as Nemours President & CEO.
2008: Nemours received regulatory approval to begin construction of a medical campus and freestanding children’s hospital in Orlando, Florida.
2009: Nemours broke ground on the LakeNona medical campus in Orlando, Florida.
