In 1926, Doernbecher Memorial Hospital for Children was built on the Marquam Hill campus and becomes the first full-service children’s hospital in the Pacific Northwest.

Frank Doernbecher was a Wisconsin furniture-maker and pioneer in mass production who came to Portland in 1900. Portland welcomed this industry leader by giving him a free site for his factory, an act of generosity he would repay many times over.

When Doernbecher passed away in 1921, he left a $200,000 bequest in his will, directed to benefit the state. His daughter Ada Doernbecher and son Edward M. Doernbecher decided to give the money to the University of Oregon Medical School to build the state’s first full-service children’s hospital.