Maine currently has three Shriners serving on the board of governors of the Boston Burns Hospital and another on the board of the Springfield (MA) Shriners Hospital for Children, both parts of a network of 19 hospitals dedicated to pediatric speciality care, innovative medicine, surgery and research treating children suffering from a variety of devastating orthopaedic conditions and spinal cord injuries, plus another three facilities which treat young burn victims.

Shriners Hospitals for children have treated more than three-quarters of a million kids since their inception in 1922, without ever imposing out-of-pocket charges for anyone. Mainers, especially, are fortunate to have easy access to both one of the world’s foremost pediatric orthopaedic facilities, in Springfield, and also to the Shriners burn treatment facility in Boston.

In a given year, the Springfield hospital treats more than 20,000 kids and provides more out-patient orthopaedic care to kids than any hospital in the world except Mexico City. “We don’t set broken bones,” a spokesman explained. “We provide state-of-the art, specialized care that isn’t available anywhere else.” Children’s Hospital in Boston treats cancer, internal medicine issues, and general surgery, but does not have the same concentration of resources – both human and technological – dedicated specifically to orthopaedic treatment.

Originally established to treat children with polio, the services of the Shriners Hospital in Springfield have expanded to cover everything from “the most routine to the most rarely seen orthopaedic conditions,” according to the hospital’s brochure. “Our specially trained medical team strives to put the joys of childhood into the life of every child.”

Representative of its unique focus on the orthopaedic health of kids, the Springfield hospital has published a handy reference card entitled, “School Backpack Awareness,” intended to help avert problems of injured muscles or joints. Cards are available from most Shriners, or from the Kora Temple. More information is available from the hospitals’ website, www.shrinershospitals.org.

Because the nearest Shriners orthopaedic hospitals outside of Springfield are in Montreal and Philadelphia, the Springfield hospital serves a vast population. The hospital “family” includes nearly 12,000 active patients, 230 employees, 170 volunteers and over 23,000 Shriners from 17 Shrine Centers in New England and New York. The operating budget last year was $25 million, and the hospital staff performed 780 surgical procedures and treated more than 18,000 outpatients.

Masonry is in large part about good works, and the Shriners have elevated that purpose, through their hospital network, to a specific and unique level of service. That such service continues to be supported through fun and fellowship carries the 19th century vision of the founders of the Shrine fraternity well into the 21st century.

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