The hospital opened on November 10, 2017, and provides pediatric specialties and subspecialties to infants, children, teens, and young adults up to age 21, and maternity services for expectant mothers. It is located at the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus and has 185 inpatient beds. It is a pediatric facility serving patients in Western New York and parts of Southern Ontario. The hospital is one of the only freestanding children's hospitals in New York State. OCH is a teaching hospital affiliated with the State University of New York at Buffalo and is affiliated with the Kaleida Health System.
The hospital contains an ACS verified level 1 pediatric trauma center, one of the few in the region. OCH also has a rooftop helipad to transport critically ill patients to and from the hospital.
The hospital is named after the John R. Oishei Foundation, which donated $10 million for the development of the hospital. Construction on the hospital started in 2014 at an estimated cost of $350 million, $35 million of which was provided by the state of New York and $10 million from the John R. Oishei Foundation. The hospital was built by Turner Construction and designed by the acclaimed architectural firm, Shepley Bulfinch. The design included 12 floors and 400,000 square feet of space.
On November 10, 2017, 125 patients were moved from the old WCHOB to the new hospital by a team of doctors, nurses, and volunteers. American Medical Response provided the transport services including specialized Critical Care Transport for patients in the multiple Intensive Care Units at the old hospital.
