[8] The hospital began construction in 2001 and was funded in part from a $21 million donation by Gary and Frances Comer.

[13][14] In August 2010, protests erupted outside of the hospital over the death of Damian Turner, an 18-year-old boy who was killed by gunshot.

[19] In 2010 a lawsuit was filed against Comer Children's for treating more babies in their neonatal intensive care unit than they were licensed to.

[22] In 2015, after the many protests over the death of Damian Turner, The University of Chicago Medicine announced it will build a Level 1 adult trauma center on its Hyde Park campus.

[27] Comer Children's Hospital features one of the only Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Centers in Chicago and the region.

[30] In addition to patient care beds, the hospital has five operating rooms and a dedicated pediatric emergency department.

[32] In 2013 U.S. News & World Report ranked the hospital as #45 in cancer, #40 in diabetes and endocrinology, #36 in gastroenterology, and #40 in neonatology.