On May 15, 1886, Dr. Francisco Vidal Solares and Sister Mercedes Viza, sister of the Society of Daughters of Charity of San Vicente de Paul, decided to create a small dispensary to help children with malnutrition. In just 4 years, the project grew so much that in May 1890 the Hospital for Poor Children in Barcelona was inaugurated , the first center of its kind to open in Catalonia and the second in all of Spain.

Thus began a great story of charity and, above all, of helping children and the most needy. From day one, the Hospital specialized in resolving nutritional disorders in infants , especially in those cases where there was a lack of breast milk. The drop of milk One of the most serious health problems of the late nineteenth century was the malnutrition and excessive infant mortality it entailed. To combat it, the so-called “Drops of Milk” were created, charities in which artificial milk was offered to poor children, who could not be breastfed by their mothers.

In 2019, the HM Hospitales Group and the Barcelona Children’s Hospital Foundation have reached an agreement in which the pediatric health center in Barcelona is incorporated into the structure of the Hospital Group in Catalonia. HM Hospitals and the Barcelona Children’s Hospital Foundation share the philosophy based on the highest quality of care, teaching and health education and research, while possessing values ​​such as comprehensive care, which goes beyond illness and sailing. for the whole needs of the patient and his family, and the personalized treatment, because each case is unique and must be treated with respect, kindness and courtesy.

This new chapter not only translates into a new identity, but also into the union of two great institutions that will combine efforts and experience to meet common goals, under shared values ​​of solidarity. The historic pediatric center in Barcelona and Catalonia will be renamed HM Nens Hospital, as will its social work, whose identity will be the HM Obra Social Nens Foundation . In this way, the new Fundación HM Obra Social Nens feels the firm commitment to flag the care of children in situations of inequality, managing resources efficiently and based on the system of excellence and quality of care which defines the HM Hospitales Group and its Foundation.