The Story Behind Our Wagons

First published March 2018
Updated July 2026

Butterfly wagons always stop traffic here at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, whether it’s to wave goodbye to discharged patients happily riding out the door with their family with some butterfly balloons in tow, or at a more somber time. These same wagons transport children to surgery or their latest round of treatment.

Wagons have been our preferred mode of patient transportation since the 1960’s. Our patient transportation team estimates that there are about 475 wagons in service, and that each wagon rolls 12-15 miles around the campus every day. That’s a lot of rolling!

Our patients love the Butterfly Wagons - they're far less clinical than a wheelchair or hospital bed and make getting around the hospital a little more comfortable. Families can find them in the green corrals near many hospital entrances and use them to transport patients, siblings, personal belongings, and even beloved stuffies.

Check out this story from one of our dispatcher/transporter team members:

“Emma loves seeing the bright faces of Patient Transport. She can hear us before she sees us come around the corner. As we pull into her room, her hands grab the rails of her crib, her binky slides to one side of her mouth to make room for her huge smile. No matter what treatments or tests we’re transporting her to, she knows that the ride there and back will be a blast. Emma loves traveling in the wagons to her testing sites when she can. We pile the wagon full of all her pillows, her favorite blanket, and her baby doll that she never leaves behind. With her parents living far away and having to care for other children, Emma looks forward to the trips in the wagon, even if it is for tests.”

Each donor, family, or community group who sponsors a Butterfly Wagon has the option to customize a license plate for it in celebration or in honor of a loved one, and the donor also receives a license plate to take home with them. These license plates remain on the wagon for the entirety of the wagon’s service.