Boston Children’s Needham Celebrates Upcoming Opening

January 12, 2026
• Hospital leaders unveiled their newest outpatient facility at a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday ahead of the first day of operation.

Standing in the building’s lobby, Boston Children’s Hospital CEO Kevin Churchwell shared a goal that underpins his work: “no child in this state should be no more than 20 minutes away from us.” Through the construction of the hospital’s latest facility, Churchwell said families will be much closer to the care and expertise they need.

Boston Children’s Needham will open on Wednesday, Jan. 21. The satellite campus, located at 360 1st Ave., will provide ambulatory surgical services, as well as radiology, physical and occupational therapy, orthopedics, pediatric specialty care and more. There will be six operating rooms at open, with the option of expanding the capacity in the future. The hospital is an outpatient facility, so patients will not stay overnight.

More than 900,000 patients visit Boston Children’s every year, Churchwell said during the ceremony, and one-third of those visit the network’s community locations, such as those in Weymouth, Waltham, Peabody, Lexington and Hyannis.

“Our community locations are incredibly vital to our families, because they provide that access to our unique services in a more convenient setting, closer to their home as possible,” Churchwell said during the ceremony. “Starting January 21, families will be able to receive the same level of care and expertise in Needham that used to require a trip to Boston.”

The hospital anticipates serving about 300 patients per day with between 300-325 employees. The building is about 250,000 square feet.

The Needham facility’s proximity to Route 128 made it of particular interest for hospital administrators, President and COO Ryan Nagy said. The Town of Needham has also been “a terrific partner,” he said.

“It’s a wonderful achievement for the hospital to put this together and be able to bring the capabilities of Boston Children’s closer to the patients of the Greater Boston area,” Nagy said in an interview. “It also allows us to provide care in a way that’s more efficient and just a greater ease for patients and families.”

Several hospital leaders lined up to cut the ribbon inside the hospital, triggering applause from the hundreds of attendees present on Thursday evening. Among them were several Select Board members, former Town Manager Kate Fitzpatrick, state Sen. Becca Rausch and state Rep. Josh Tarsky.

Thanks to an established PILOT program, the hospital will pay the town the equivalent of its property taxes, Town Manager Katie King said. Hospitals are considered nonprofits in Massachusetts and thereby don’t pay property taxes.

King said “it’s the biggest source of funding for all the municipal services that Needham provides to our residents.” That funding has benefited the town’s Youth and Family Services Division.

The additional staffing and visitors to Needham could also bring traffic to the town’s other facilities and storefronts, King said. She views the partnership as a win-win.

“There’s families in Needham that can access services right here in town, and that’s true for everyone in the region, so that’s amazing,” she said. “But also, we’re getting to welcome a whole new [group] of folks to the Needham community. So there’s now all new employees, and I was encouraging folks to use our public parks and use our library and shop and dine in town.”

Hospital leaders first toured the property back in 2019, and Town Meeting voted to approve the project in 2020. Construction began in 2023.

The site, off of Highland Avenue by the Newton border, exists in an area that, until recently, did not see much traffic. Currently, Tripadvisor, Bigbelly Solar, SharkNinja, a Coca-Cola distributor and hotels and residences populate those spaces.

“That’s amazing, that people will be able to pull off 98 or 95 or 128, at the exit, come right here, maybe get a Coca Cola from the factory, book a trip, go over to SharkNinja, go up to Pressed [Cafe]. Who knows what they’re going to do,” said Dick Argys, executive vice president, hospital COO and chief culture officer. “But it’s quite the area with a lot happening, and it’s going to be exciting for everybody.”

Besides the hospital services, staff also strive to facilitate a welcoming environment for young patients, doing so through artwork. Each floor follows the theme of motion, and the first floor, including the radiology wing, is all about water — turtles swim through the hallway, animals and people flow along a river and the MRI machine is surrounded by the Charles River.

Rachel Marrano, senior director of transition and occupancy planning, pointed out X-ray equipment and kid-friendly illustrations around the department. Given the popularity of the hospital network’s out-of-Boston locations, Marrano said she sees the need for the Needham facility.

“We just opened one in April of last year, not this past year, in Weymouth, and it is one of our busiest,” Marrano said. “So I think it’s really helpful for families in the community to have it close by. But we like to make these [rooms] friendly, too.”

Churchwell said “we look forward to being a great neighbor” and maintaining partnerships in town.

“Thank you for welcoming us to the neighborhood,” he said.