Childrens Mercy Hospital

Childrens Mercy Hospital, a tax-exempt non-profit pediatric medical center headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, acts as a prime recipient and sub-recipient on federal research grants and contracts centered on pediatric health research, epidemiological studies, and clinical trials. The hospital operates as a research institution across a broad range of NIH institutes and federal health agencies, competing in full-and-open settings without SBA set-asides; its award footprint reflects prime participation (53% of recent awards) balanced against substantial sub-recipient work (47%), with recent federal activity concentrated among NIH components rather than contracts.

Childrens Mercy delivers pediatric clinical research, translational science, and epidemiological investigation across oncology, infectious disease, endocrinology, nephrology, cardiology, pulmonary and neonatal medicine, genomic medicine, and behavioral health. Representative prime work includes an $11.787 million definitive contract from CDC Pittsburgh on epidemiological research into the impact of ventilation and environmental interventions on respiratory viral transmission in K-12 schools (FY2024, ultimate completion August 2027); a $6.157 million definitive contract from CDC Pittsburgh on epidemiology of respiratory viruses and COVID-19/influenza vaccine effectiveness in K-12 populations (awarded August 2022); a $352,071 purchase order from the Consumer Product Safety Commission for data collection on consumer product-related injuries through June 2029; and clinical-grade genomic sequencing services contracts from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases totaling $67 thousand combined potential value. On the grant side, Childrens Mercy is recipient of $532,087 from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (CFDA 93.847) for a prospective cohort study examining associations between added sugar exposure in infant formula and glucose variability during early childhood (awarded August 2026, performance through June 2031), $1.506 million from the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health for a pre-efficacy feasibility trial of home-based immersive neurofeedback for pediatric migraine prevention (awarded September 2025, performance through August 2028), $1.907 million from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development for research on state-level safety net policies and pediatric hospitalizations (awarded September 2025, performance through July 2030), and $899,904 from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences for preclinical assessment of everolimus as therapy for VICI syndrome (awarded May 2026, performance through April 2028).

Customer concentration is dominated by NIH institutes and centers. The top five funding agencies by award count—National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (46 awards), National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (28 awards), National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (23 awards), National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (21 awards), and National Institutes of Health general (20 awards)—account for 40% of all recent awards. By potential value, however, CDC Pittsburgh anchors the portfolio with $18.2 million across four awards, followed by the Consumer Product Safety Commission ($544 thousand), Department of Veterans Affairs Veterans Health Administration ($377 thousand), and NIAID ($67 thousand). The disparity between award-count and dollar-value rankings reflects CDC's large epidemiological research contracts while most NIH support funds smaller individual research projects.

Childrens Mercy's grant sub-recipient footprint is extensive and collaborative. Named prime grantees on sub-awards include Duke University, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, the University of Kansas, Baylor College of Medicine, the National Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions (for analytical support on health policy research), Temple University's Center for Public Health Law Research, Kaiser Foundation Research Institute, the Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason, and the Immune Tolerance Network for clinical trial participation. Sub-award scope spans data coordination and management, clinical trial enrollment and site management, biostatistical analysis, EHR data querying and epidemiological research, genomic and epigenomic methodology, and specific research activities such as EEG protocol development and neuroimaging data analysis.

SCI-reported federal service-contract invoicing totaled $3.4 million in FY2024 across 3.8 FTEs delivered to the government, with no SCI activity reported in other years in the source window. Derived government-paid rates on federal services contracts ranged from a 10th percentile of $205.25/hr to a median of $489.38/hr to a 90th percentile of $773.50/hr, reflecting the mix of research coordinator, clinical research, data science, and specialty clinical labor. Childrens Mercy self-performed all SCI-reportable hours with zero sub-engagement, indicating integrated delivery on those tracked federal services contracts. However, SCI data capture the portion of federal services above the $150,000 threshold and exclude grant work; the $538.4 million in combined obligations across all 345 awards far exceeds the $3.4 million SCI figure, reflecting the hospital's substantial grant portfolio and the exclusion of grant invoicing from the Service Contract Inventory.

Activity has accelerated year over year, from 28 awards in 2022 to 70 in 2024, with a moderation to 48 in 2025 and 15 recorded through early September 2026 in the source snapshot. Twenty-three awards carrying combined potential value of $11.8 million reach ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, representing recompete or continuation opportunity. Childrens Mercy operates as a tax-exempt corporate entity; a named subsidiary, Childrens Mercy-Pediatric Care Specialists, Inc., is also structured as a tax-exempt non-profit organization. Work is performed at the Kansas City, Missouri headquarters location with subordinate research activities across pediatric specialties and infrastructure including a Genomic Medicine Center, Precision Therapeutics facilities, and participation in national research networks spanning pediatric rare disease, infectious disease, oncology, and disaster preparedness.