The Big Story: 2025 Jarrard National Consumer Survey: Children’s Hospitals
As children’s hospitals move forward in today’s landscape, it is more critical than ever for these special organizations to distinguish themselves from the broader provider industry, with a focus on building and strengthening trust and support from stakeholders.
Building Trust in Today’s Hostile Environment
By Tricia Geraghty and Joe Kerschner, MD
4-minute read
In December, so many of our traditions center on the wonder of children. Nothing cuts through the chaos, the time crunch and the commercialism like the joy of a delighted child.
Our recent survey shows that children’s hospitals can also delight in the strength of the public’s trust in their ability to care for the health of children.
But…like the Grinch stealing Christmas, the erosion of the public’s trust in healthcare writ large appears to be reaching its grasping hands into the cherished territory of children’s hospitals.
In fact, nearly 40% of those surveyed in the recent Jarrard poll are not sure that children’s hospitals are doing enough to justify their nonprofit status.
Earlier this month, the Children’s Hospital Association shared Jarrard’s latest research into public trust of children’s hospitals in a membership webinar. Understanding consumers’ confidence is vital for children’s hospitals, which depend on public funding, philanthropic giving and a robust legislative agenda of support to do their awe-inspiring work.
Yet like today’s Grinch who sees a holiday season driven by retail sales and profit margins rather than goodwill and generosity, setbacks at the national level influence the pediatrics conversation. Consider:
- Medicaid, which covers 40% of children in the country and is the dominant insurer at every independent children’s hospital, suffered a notable reduction in the One Big Beautiful Bill.
- Vaccines, the bedrock of pediatric preventative care, have been questioned by prominent public health authorities – and parental trust is weakening. Slightly more than 50% of parents say they are not fully confident in the FDA and CDC to ensure the safety of vaccines in the United States.
As it stands, children’s hospitals across the country have found themselves on the backfoot defending their non-profit status in their local communities and states, while simultaneously battling cuts to already scarce pediatric research funding.
These challenges exist in an environment that’s already deeply critical of healthcare providers. Healthcare consistently ranks behind only the economy as the public’s top concern – and most Americans believe it is unaffordable, hard to access and unfair.
The Gift of Good News
On the positive side, the 2025 Jarrard study shows almost 80% of Americans trust children’s hospitals to care for kids in their community. We see this as the payoff for decades of concerted focus on pediatric healthcare quality and safety. The public recognizes that children’s hospitals bring unique expertise to the specialized needs of children and their families. The extensive training of pediatric healthcare providers, the focus on child- and family-friendly experiences and remarkable research breakthroughs are fortifying the reputations of the nation’s children’s hospitals.
Moreover, the public believes children’s hospitals are truly mission driven. Asked whether children’s hospitals care more about making money or about caring for their young patients, 75% said they believe children’s hospitals put their patients above their bottom line. This is a stark contrast to non-pediatric hospitals where only 34% of the public believes hospitals put patients over profits.
Where to Focus Efforts
The research confirmed that children’s hospitals live in a trusted – you could even say sacred – space in the American mind. But’s it’s not perfect, or immune to cynicism.
As children’s hospitals work to fulfill their ambitious goals of making the country’s children healthier and safer and continuing to lead the world in pediatric quality and innovation – our survey points to areas where these hospitals need to focus:
- First, as mentioned earlier, only 60% of those surveyed believe that children’s hospitals can justify their nonprofit status, with nearly 20% of respondents saying they don’t know enough to answer the question. That 40% who is doubtful is a potential challenge to children’s hospitals’ ability to operate as a community cause and to raise philanthropic dollars.
- Second, there’s a lack of awareness and understanding of the breadth and depth of children’s hospitals services and their role in community health. Only 55% of respondents are aware of the work of children’s hospitals in preventative care and mental health services. Training the next generation of healthcare workers ranks high on the list of valued community benefits, but key expressions of mission, such as funding research and Medicaid shortfall, rank much lower.
A prescription for improvement? Telling your story. Our study shows that exposing the public to the work of children’s hospitals in the community generates positive effects on support for nonprofit status.
Our Wish List for 2026
Children’s hospitals are in a position of relative strength. But the lesson from other healthcare segments is that public perception can shift quickly. If you are a children’s hospital leader reading this study, these are our 2026 wishes for you:
- Act with urgency: Don’t ignore the voices of either criticism or of apathy on the edge of your perception studies. Invest in your community impact and mission of care – and make sure your stakeholders know about it.
- No time for silos: Brand, marketing, advocacy, strategy and philanthropy need to work together to advance your mission and goals. Tell a complete story to your community.
- Bring your partners into the fold: From your academic partners to your community-based collaborators, there are advocates for your work in the community. How are you working together to explain why a pediatric institution is a crucial part of the healthcare landscape?
Jarrard is the strategic communication and change management division of Chartis.
Joe Kerschner, MD, senior partner at Chartis, is board-certified pediatric otolaryngologist who has served 14 years as the dean of the Medical College of Wisconsin, as chair of the AAMC’s Council of Deans and as chair of AMMC’s Board of Directors. He is a sought-after researcher, author and speaker on academic and pediatric medicine.
Tricia Geraghty is a senior vice president at Jarrard who leads the firm’s specialized group of pediatric communications and marketing experts. She formerly served as the chief marketing and experience officer for Children’s Wisconsin and is one of the nation’s top healthcare strategists.
Contributors: Jed Lam, Emme Nelson Baxter, David Shifrin
Image credit: Shannon Threadgill
