The 2025 Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) for Children’s of Alabama was conducted by the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama (PARCA) in accordance with IRS and Affordable Care Act regulations. The study integrates quantitative data, survey responses, and focus group findings to identify the leading health, access, and safety challenges affecting children in Alabama.
The analysis included:
Respondents represented 58 of Alabama’s 67 counties; 55% resided in the Birmingham, Alabama, Metropolitan Statistical Area (Bibb, Blount, Chilton, Jefferson, Shelby, St. Clair, and Walker counties), and 45% lived elsewhere. Sixty-eight percent lived in urban counties, and 30% lived in rural areas.
The Children’s of Alabama Health Education and Safety Center team successfully completed the second year of its Pediatric Vehicular Heatstroke Campaign, a campaign that is grant funded by the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA). The statewide campaign launched with a media event held on National Heatstroke Prevention Day (May 1). The team promoted the campaign at the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix, where attendees received safety education and tips for preventing pediatric vehicular heatstroke.
Hyundai renewed its donation of $50,000 to the Health Education and Safety Center’s car seat safety program. Through Hyundai’s support, the team continued to promote child passenger safety and empower caregivers with the knowledge they need to keep children safe on the roads.
Children’s of Alabama partnered with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and the Jefferson County Department of Health to promote the safe storage of firearms through education and the distribution of cable gun locks. Through this partnership, by participation in multiple community events, and via designated distribution sites across Jefferson County, the three groups were able to provide more than 1,200 cable gun locks and safe storage education to those in need.
The Health Education and Safety Center provided bike and pedestrian safety education to more than 2,300 students across five different schools in Talladega County. The team also provided and fit bike helmets to 374 students. This was made possible in part through a donation from Georgia-Pacific.
Children’s of Alabama’s Comprehensive Spina Bifida Program hosted the 2025 Spina Bifida Association Clinical Care Meeting June 5–7 in the Bradley Lecture Center at Children’s. More than 180 participants, including physicians, caregivers, and patients from across the country, gathered to explore the latest advancements, challenges, and successes in spina bifida care. The weekend featured a mix of general sessions, networking opportunities, and specialized breakout discussions led by experts from UAB’s Departments of Pediatric Neurosurgery, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Urology, Pulmonology and Sleep Medicine, and the STEP Program. Attendees also enjoyed a reception at Regions Field, complete with a Birmingham Barons baseball game.
Children’s of Alabama hosted a flag-raising ceremony in April with Legacy of Hope to recognize Donate Life Organ Donation Month and Pediatric Transplant Week. We celebrated the power of organ donation and its life-saving impact on children and families across Alabama. Leaders from Children’s and Legacy of Hope spoke, along with the family of Children’s patient and organ recipient Timothy Walley, who moved from Mississippi to Alabama to be near Children’s for his care. The event concluded with showcasing the Donate Life flag in the Benjamin Russell Hospital—reminding us that one donor can save up to eight lives.