The hospital's Peter Gilgan Centre for Research and Learning is believed to be the largest pediatric research tower in the world, at 69,677.28 square metres (750,000.0 sq ft).[2]
History
Victoria Hospital for Sick ChildrenNurse and orderly transport child to operating room, c. 1915Peter Gilgan Centre for Research and LearningAtrium designed by Eberhard Zeidler
During 1875, an eleven-room house was rented for CA$320 (equivalent to $9,327 in 2023) a year by a Toronto women's bible study group, led by Elizabeth McMaster.[3] Opened on March 1,[4] it set up six iron cots and "declared open a hospital 'for the admission and treatment of all sick children.'" The first patient, a scalding victim named Maggie, came in on April 3. In its first year of operation, 44 patients were admitted to the hospital, and 67 others were treated in outpatient clinics.[5]
In 1876, the hospital moved to larger facilities. In 1891, it moved from rented premises to a purposely-constructed building at College and Elizabeth Streets. It would remain there for 60 years. The building, known as the Victoria Hospital for Sick Children, is now the Toronto area headquarters of Canadian Blood Services. In 1951, the hospital moved to its present University Avenue location. On its grounds once stood the childhood home of the Canadian-born movie star Mary Pickford.[5]
In 1972,[6] the hospital became equipped with a rooftop helipad (CNW8).[7]
In December 2022, the hospital was attacked by the LockBitransomware gang, who apologized 13 days later and provided a decryptor to the hospital for free.[9]
Contributions to medicine
The hospital was an early leader in the fields of food safety and nutrition. In 1908, a pasteurization facility for milk was established at the hospital, the first in Toronto, 30 years before milk pasteurization became mandatory.[10] Researchers at the hospital invented an infant cereal, Pablum. The research that led to the discovery of insulin took place at the nearby University of Toronto and was soon applied in the hospital by Gladys Boyd. Dr. Frederick Banting, one of the researchers, had served his internship at the hospital and went on to become an attending physician there. In 1963, William Thornton Mustard developed the Mustard surgical procedure to help correct heart problems in blue baby syndrome.[10] In 1989, a team of researchers at the hospital discovered the gene responsible for cystic fibrosis.[11]
One of the funded proposals was titled “Building COVID-19 Vaccine Confidence: Educating the Educators.” The result was a promotional video titled “COVID-19 Vaccination Information for Education & Child Care Sector Staff” narrated by Dr. Danielle Martin.[15] It was produced by 19 to Zero, and distributed by the Ontario Ministry of Education to school boards, private schools and child care centres to use in COVID-19 vaccination educational programs.[16]
A second proposal was titled “Stop COVID in Kids - School based vaccine education outreach to build trust and empower families”, which received additional funding in the form of a $440,000 grant from the Public Health Agency of Canada's Immunization Partnership Fund.[13][17]
Alleged baby murders
In 1980-81, up to 29 baby deaths at SickKids were suspected to have been deliberate murders by a nurse using the heart medication digoxin. However, after years of inquiry it remains unclear if any murders actually took place or if toxicological tests were misinterpreted. In 2024, retired SickKids paediatric intensive care specialist Dr. Desmond Bohn, who took the latter position, pointed to similarities in the British Lucy Letby case.[18]
Unqualified forensic testing
The hospital housed the Motherisk Drug Testing Laboratory.[19] At the request of various child protection agencies, 16,000 hair samples were tested from 2005 to 2015. The former Ontario Appeal Court judge Susan Lang reviewed Motherisk Drug Testing Laboratory and determined that it was not qualified to do forensic testing. Lang also stated, "That SickKids failed to exercise meaningful oversight over MDTL's work must be considered in the context of the hospital's experience with Dr. Charles Smith."[20] The 2008 Goudge Report found also that Dr. Charles Smith, whose forensic testimony led to wrongful convictions in the deaths of children, was not qualified to do forensic testing.[21]
Future
The hospital is in its initial stages of expansion. In 2017, it established the "SickKids VS Limits" fundraising campaign, which continued until 2022 to raise $1.5 billion for the expansion project.[22][23] The funds will be used to build a patient care centre on University Avenue and a support centre on Elizabeth Street, to renovate the atrium, and to fund pediatric health research.[23]
To provide the required area for the buildings, demolition of existing structures was required. That included the removal of a skyway spanning Elizabeth Street, the demolition of the Elizabeth McMaster Building at the northeast corner of Elizabeth Street and Elm Street, and the demolition of the laboratory and administrative building.[24]: 26–31
Construction of the 22-storey Patient Support Centre administrative building occurred on the site of the Elizabeth McMaster Building. Groundbreaking took place in October 2019, topping out took place in September 2022, and it opened in September 2023.[25][26][27] The Peter Gilgan Family Patient Care Tower is expected to open in 2029, and the atrium's renovation is expected to be completed by 2031.[24]
Notable patients
Peter Czerwinski (born 1985), competitive eater known as "Furious Pete"; admitted as a teen while battling anorexia[28]
Peter G. Kavanagh (1953-2016), radio and television producer; was treated for paralytic poliomyelitis in infancy and childhood[30]
Aqsa Parvez (1991-2007), murder victim; died at the hospital[31]
Leonard Thompson (1908-1935), the first diabetic patient to be treated with insulin; received treatment as a teen[32]
Peter Woodcock (1939-2010), serial killer; was treated extensively throughout his childhood
Notable staff
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Benjamin Alman, professor and head of the division of orthopedic surgery, senior scientist in developmental and stem cell biology
Jean Augustine (born 1937), member of the Board of Trustees
^Colbourn, Glen; Kalchman, Lois (August 27, 2005). "Heads Above the Rest: Hockeys' Dr. Safety dies at 90". Toronto Star. Toronto, Ontario. p. A1.; Colbourn, Glen; Kalchman, Lois (August 27, 2005). "Hockey pioneer saved many players: Safety (From A1)". Toronto Star. Toronto, Ontario. p. A19.
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