The development of hospital-substituting forms of medical care was one of the most significant organizational technologies for the implementation of the process of restructuring and optimizing the network of medical organizations, increasing the availability of medical care to the population. The purpose of this work was to study the dynamics of the development of day hospitals for children and indicators of their activities in the whole of the Russian Federation and in the context of the subjects of the Russian Federation for the period from 2000 to 2018. Methods Analytical, statistical, comparative analysis. Results. Revealed significant differences in the indicators of the availability of beds in day hospitals for children of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, the slowdown of their development, reducing the effectiveness of activities in recent years and the reserves for its improvement. The study established non-compliance with the volume of medical care provided in day hospitals, recommended by the Program of state guarantees of free medical care (level of hospitalization in day hospitals), ill-conceived approach to profiling of beds. In day hospitals for children of medical organizations providing outpatient care. Conclusion. The development of day hospitals, in particular for children, is hampered by low tariffs for medical care provided in day hospitals; the lack of standards for the amount of care for each type of day hospitals and proper monitoring of the work of day hospitals by health authorities. The issues of planning day hospitals for children in accordance with the needs and standards, improving the organization of their work require further attention, which will further significantly improve the efficiency of the use of health care resources and improve the quality and accessibility of medical care for the child population.