Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto
The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), affiliated with the University of Toronto, is Canada’s most research-intensive hospital and the largest centre dedicated to improving children’s health in the country. As innovators in child health, SickKids improves the health of children by integrating care, research and teaching.
With a staff that includes professionals from all disciplines of health care and research, SickKids provides the best in complex and specialized care by creating scientific and clinical advancements, sharing knowledge and expertise and championing the development of an accessible, comprehensive and sustainable child health system.
History and Milestones
It all began way back in the spring of 1875, when a group of Toronto women led by Elizabeth McMaster rented an 11-room house in downtown Toronto for $320 a year, set up six iron cots and declared open a hospital “for the admission and treatment of all sick children.” On April 3, Maggie, a scalding victim, became SickKids’ very first patient. Read more of our history.