Hospital for Sick Children
Encyclopedia
The Hospital for Sick Children (also known as SickKids Hospital) – is a major paediatric
centre for the Greater Toronto Area
, serving patients up to age 18. Located on University Avenue
in Downtown Toronto
, SickKids is part of the city’s Discovery District
, a critical mass of scientists and entrepreneurs who are focused on innovation and application of new ideas and knowledge. SickKids is a teaching hospital for the University of Toronto
.
SickKids has built an integrated environment of patient care, research and learning with six centres of excellence, in bone health, brain and behaviour, cancer, cystic fibrosis
, heart, pain and transplantation. In 2009-2010, SickKids admitted 14,000 in-patients who stayed for an average of 7.1 days. The operating room treated 11,000 cases; there were 58,000 visits to the emergency department
and 215,000 visits to the hospital’s ambulatory clinics. SickKids has about 370 beds and provides the highest level of complex and specialized paediatric family-centred care.
The SickKids Research Institute is the largest child health research institute in Canada. It employs almost 2,000 people, or a quarter of the SickKids workforce. The Research Institute is known for its groundbreaking research in stem cell
s, childhood cancer, cystic fibrosis and other diseases, and is home to the Database of Genomic Variations, known as the Toronto Database.
The Learning Institute was established in 2007 to support all forms of learning, from formal training of health-care workers, to the education of patients and families and the transfer of knowledge to the community. SickKids shares its knowledge globally through SickKids International.
The hospital is equipped with a rooftop helipad (CNW8). since 1972. It is one of two downtown hospitals with a helipad (other being St. Michael's Hospital (Toronto)
) and one of three in Toronto (the third at Sunnybrook Hospital).
, Chief of Research. They will all be housed under one roof in The SickKids Research & Learning Tower.
Construction of the 21-storey building started in 2010 and is scheduled for completion in 2013. The building is designed to facilitate collaboration among clinicians, scientists and scholars and nurture a climate of innovation. The $400-million project is supported by Canada Foundation for Innovation
, a $200-million fundraising campaign led by SickKids Foundation, and long-term borrowing.
Over the years, a number of initiatives at SickKids have grown to play an important role in local, national and international health-care delivery, including the Ontario Poison Control Centre, Motherisk
(launched by Gideon Koren
in 1985), Safe Kids Canada, electronic Child Health Network of Ontario, and AboutKidsHealth.
SickKids Corporate Ventures facilitates the transfer of knowledge developed by physicians, scientists and professionals into products and programs. Its 130 licences for intellectual property technologies generate about $2 million annually.
and several other women from Toronto
set up a children's hospital. Starting in April the hospital admitted forty-four patients and treated sixty-seven as outpatients.
In 1876 the hospital moved to larger facilities. In 1891 the hospital moved from rented premises to a building constructed for it at College
and Elizabeth streets where it would remain for sixty years. This old 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 the grounds where Canadian star Mary Pickford
's childhood home once stood. The hospital underwent its last major expansion in 1993 with the construction of a glass-roofed atrium
on the east side of the main building.
, as is the case in all Canadian hospitals.
Philanthropy is a critical source of funding for SickKids, separate and distinct from the funding received from government and granting agencies. Community support, which includes private donations from individuals, families, corporations and foundations, allows SickKids to invest in care, medical learning and research.
In 2009/10, SickKids Foundation invested $52.5 million in child health. Of that amount, the Foundation granted $47.9 million directly to the hospital and $4.6 million to national, international and other initiatives. This is one of the largest investments in children’s health care in Canada and one of the largest annual contributions to a hospital in the country.
A significant portion of the Foundation’s annual grant is directed to research infrastructure support. It also is invested into key patient care initiatives, purchase medical equipment, provide education and training to health-care professionals and fund various special programs aimed at enhancing child and family-centered care.
Pediatrics
Pediatrics or paediatrics is the branch of medicine that deals with the medical care of infants, children, and adolescents. A medical practitioner who specializes in this area is known as a pediatrician or paediatrician...
centre for the Greater Toronto Area
Greater Toronto Area
The Greater Toronto Area is the largest metropolitan area in Canada, with a 2006 census population of 5.5 million. The Greater Toronto Area is usually defined as the central city of Toronto, along with four regional municipalities surrounding it: Durham, Halton, Peel, and York...
, serving patients up to age 18. Located on University Avenue
University Avenue (Toronto)
University Avenue is a major north-south road in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. At its north end, University Avenue is the site of the Ontario Legislative Building. The eight-lane wide street is the location for several hospitals, numerous office buildings, Osgoode Hall and the Four Seasons...
in Downtown Toronto
Downtown Toronto
Downtown Toronto is the central business district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is approximately bounded by Bloor Street to the north, Lake Ontario to the south, the Don River to the east, and Bathurst Street to the west...
, SickKids is part of the city’s Discovery District
Discovery District
The Discovery District is an area of downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that features a high concentration of hospitals and research institutions, particularly those related to biotechnology...
, a critical mass of scientists and entrepreneurs who are focused on innovation and application of new ideas and knowledge. SickKids is a teaching hospital for the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
.
SickKids has built an integrated environment of patient care, research and learning with six centres of excellence, in bone health, brain and behaviour, cancer, cystic fibrosis
Cystic fibrosis
Cystic fibrosis is a recessive genetic disease affecting most critically the lungs, and also the pancreas, liver, and intestine...
, heart, pain and transplantation. In 2009-2010, SickKids admitted 14,000 in-patients who stayed for an average of 7.1 days. The operating room treated 11,000 cases; there were 58,000 visits to the emergency department
Emergency department
An emergency department , also known as accident & emergency , emergency room , emergency ward , or casualty department is a medical treatment facility specialising in acute care of patients who present without prior appointment, either by their own means or by ambulance...
and 215,000 visits to the hospital’s ambulatory clinics. SickKids has about 370 beds and provides the highest level of complex and specialized paediatric family-centred care.
The SickKids Research Institute is the largest child health research institute in Canada. It employs almost 2,000 people, or a quarter of the SickKids workforce. The Research Institute is known for its groundbreaking research in stem cell
Stem cell
This article is about the cell type. For the medical therapy, see Stem Cell TreatmentsStem cells are biological cells found in all multicellular organisms, that can divide and differentiate into diverse specialized cell types and can self-renew to produce more stem cells...
s, childhood cancer, cystic fibrosis and other diseases, and is home to the Database of Genomic Variations, known as the Toronto Database.
The Learning Institute was established in 2007 to support all forms of learning, from formal training of health-care workers, to the education of patients and families and the transfer of knowledge to the community. SickKids shares its knowledge globally through SickKids International.
The hospital is equipped with a rooftop helipad (CNW8). since 1972. It is one of two downtown hospitals with a helipad (other being St. Michael's Hospital (Toronto)
St. Michael's Hospital (Toronto)
St. Michael's Hospital is a teaching hospital and medical centre in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was established by the Sisters of St. Joseph in 1892, with the founding goal of taking care of the sick and poor of Toronto's inner city. The hospital provides tertiary and quaternary services...
) and one of three in Toronto (the third at Sunnybrook Hospital).
Achievements
SickKids has a tradition of finding ways to improve child health. This culture of discovery led to the establishment of SickKids Research Institute which is home to an important group of scientists under the leadership of Dr. Janet RossantJanet Rossant
Janet Rossant FRS is a developmental biologist well known for her contributions to the understanding of the role of genes in embryo development. She is currently the Chief of Research at the Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute in Toronto, Canada....
, Chief of Research. They will all be housed under one roof in The SickKids Research & Learning Tower.
Construction of the 21-storey building started in 2010 and is scheduled for completion in 2013. The building is designed to facilitate collaboration among clinicians, scientists and scholars and nurture a climate of innovation. The $400-million project is supported by Canada Foundation for Innovation
Canada Foundation for Innovation
Created by the Government of Canada in 1997, the Canada Foundation for Innovation strives to build our nation’s capacity to undertake world-class research and technology development to benefit Canadians...
, a $200-million fundraising campaign led by SickKids Foundation, and long-term borrowing.
Over the years, a number of initiatives at SickKids have grown to play an important role in local, national and international health-care delivery, including the Ontario Poison Control Centre, Motherisk
Motherisk
Motherisk, created in 1985, is a clinical research and teaching program at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Ontario, Canada that provides information and guidance to pregnant or lactating women and to health care professionals regarding risks to the fetus from exposure to drugs,...
(launched by Gideon Koren
Gideon Koren
Gideon Koren M.D., FACMT, FRCP is a Canadian pediatrician, clinical pharmacologist, and toxicologist. Dr. Koren is also a noted composer of Israeli popular music.-Professional contributions:...
in 1985), Safe Kids Canada, electronic Child Health Network of Ontario, and AboutKidsHealth.
SickKids Corporate Ventures facilitates the transfer of knowledge developed by physicians, scientists and professionals into products and programs. Its 130 licences for intellectual property technologies generate about $2 million annually.
History
In 1875 Elizabeth McMasterElizabeth McMaster
Elizabeth McMaster was a Canadian humanitarian and head of the committee which founded the Hospital for Sick Children.She was born in Toronto and married Samuel Fenton McMaster who was a nephew of William McMaster, a Senator and the namesake of McMaster University. In her forties, she trained to...
and several other women from Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
set up a children's hospital. Starting in April the hospital admitted forty-four patients and treated sixty-seven as outpatients.
In 1876 the hospital moved to larger facilities. In 1891 the hospital moved from rented premises to a building constructed for it at College
College Street (Toronto)
College Street is a principal arterial thoroughfare in downtown Toronto, connecting former streetcar suburbs in the west with the city centre. The street is home to an ethnically diverse population in the western residential reaches, and institutions like the Ontario Legislature and the University...
and Elizabeth streets where it would remain for sixty years. This old building, known as the Victoria Hospital for Sick Children
Victoria Hospital for Sick Children
Victoria Hospital for Sick Children is a building in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was built in 1892 by the architectural firm of Darling and Curry, and served as the hospital that is now called Hospital for Sick Children until 1951...
, is now the Toronto area headquarters of Canadian Blood Services
Canadian Blood Services
Canadian Blood Services is a national, not-for-profit charitable organization that manages the blood supply in all provinces and territories of Canada, outside of Quebec, and oversees the OneMatch Stem Cell and Marrow Network . A separate organization, Héma-Québec, operates in the province of Quebec...
. In 1951 the hospital moved to its present University Avenue location, on the grounds where Canadian star Mary Pickford
Mary Pickford
Mary Pickford was a Canadian-born motion picture actress, co-founder of the film studio United Artists and one of the original 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
's childhood home once stood. The hospital underwent its last major expansion in 1993 with the construction of a glass-roofed atrium
Atrium (architecture)
In modern architecture, an atrium is a large open space, often several stories high and having a glazed roof and/or large windows, often situated within a larger multistory building and often located immediately beyond the main entrance doors...
on the east side of the main building.
- 1883: The hospital opens the first fresh air sanitariumSanatoriumA sanatorium is a medical facility for long-term illness, most typically associated with treatment of tuberculosis before antibiotics...
in Toronto, and likely Canada, for the treatment of tuberculosisTuberculosisTuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
and other ailments.
- 1892: A school is opened. This is the first time a school has been set up within a hospital.
- 1908: SickKids installed the first milk pasteurizationPasteurizationPasteurization is a process of heating a food, usually liquid, to a specific temperature for a definite length of time, and then cooling it immediately. This process slows microbial growth in food...
plant in Canada and leads the fight for compulsory pasteurization.
- 1918: First research laboratory at SickKids is established. In the 1930s, the laboratory enriches milk with Vitamin DVitamin DVitamin D is a group of fat-soluble secosteroids. In humans, vitamin D is unique both because it functions as a prohormone and because the body can synthesize it when sun exposure is adequate ....
to combat ricketsRicketsRickets is a softening of bones in children due to deficiency or impaired metabolism of vitamin D, magnesium , phosphorus or calcium, potentially leading to fractures and deformity. Rickets is among the most frequent childhood diseases in many developing countries...
that plagues many of the patients admitted to the hospital.
- 1919: SickKids pioneered blood transfusionBlood transfusionBlood transfusion is the process of receiving blood products into one's circulation intravenously. Transfusions are used in a variety of medical conditions to replace lost components of the blood...
for children.
- 1930: Frederick TisdallFrederick TisdallDr.Frederick Tisdall was one of three Canadian pediatricians who developed the infant cereal Pablum. He first started working at The Hospital for Sick Children in 1921. In 1929,at the age of 36, he was made Director of the Nutritional Research Laboratories...
, Theodore DrakeTheodore DrakeTheodore G.H. Drake, MD was a Canadian pediatrician and one of three doctors that developed Pablum.-Early life:Drake was born on September 16, 1891 in Webbwood, Ontario. He obtained his university degree from the University of Toronto in 1914. He spent two years in residence at the Toronto General...
and Alan Brown invented the pre-cooked cereal, PablumPablumPablum is a processed cereal for infants originally marketed by the Mead Johnson Company in 1931. The trademarked name is a contracted form of the Latin word pabulum, meaning "foodstuff", which had long been used in botany and medicine to refer to nutrition, or substances of which the nutritive...
, which provided infants with nutrition and generated funds for establishment of SickKids Research Institute in 1954.
- 1963: Dr. William Thornton Mustard develops the Mustard procedureMustard procedureThe Mustard procedure was developed in 1963 by Dr. William Mustard at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada.Dr. Mustard, with support from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, developed the first operation to correct a congenital heart defect that produced “blue babies”. The...
used to help correct heart problems in blue babiesBlue baby syndromeBlue baby syndrome is a layman's term used to describe newborns with cyanotic heart lesions, such as* Persistent Truncus Arteriosus* Transposition of the great vessels* Tricuspid atresia* Tetralogy of Fallot...
.
- 1973: SickKids Foundation was established to raise funds for SickKids.
- 1979: Dr. Robert B. SalterRobert B. SalterRobert Bruce Salter, , was a Canadian surgeon and a pioneer in the field of pediatric orthopaedic surgery....
invented continuous passive motionContinuous passive motionContinuous passive motion devices are used during the first phase of rehabilitation following a soft tissue surgical procedure or trauma. The goals of phase 1 rehabilitation are Control post-operative pain, Reduce inflammation, Provide passive motion in a specific plane of movement , and Protect...
used for reconstructive joint surgery.
- 1998: The Centre for Applied GenomicsThe Centre for Applied GenomicsThe Centre for Applied Genomics is a genome centre in the Research Institute of The Hospital for Sick Children, and is affiliated with the University of Toronto. TCAG also operates as a Science and Technology Innovation Centre of , with an emphasis on next-generation sequencing and bioinformatics...
was established with Tsui Lap-chee as as director and Stephen W. SchererStephen W. SchererStephen Wayne Steve Scherer, PhD, DSc, FRSC , is a Canadian scientist, whose research has revolutionized the understanding of genetic variation in human disease. He obtained his PhD at the University of Toronto under Professor Lap-chee Tsui, discoverer of the cystic fibrosis gene...
as associate director.
- 1989: The gene responsible for cystic fibrosis, cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulatorCystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulatorCystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator is a protein that in humans is encoded by the CFTR gene.CFTR is a ABC transporter-class ion channel that transports chloride and thiocyanate ions across epithelial cell membranes...
, was discovered by Dr. Tsui Lap-chee and other SickKids scientists. Although a cure for CF has not been found, the life span of CF patients has since improved considerably.
- 1997: The Congenital Heart Surgeons' SocietyCongenital Heart Surgeons' SocietyCongenital Heart Surgeons' Society is a professional membership organization of heart surgeons who specialize in treating congenital heart defects...
Data Center was established at SickKids. Almost 6000 patients with congenital heart disease have been enrolled in various research studies leading to many improvements in care of such patients worldwide.
- 2009: SickKids researchers identified eight genes, which, when mutated, cause medulloblastomaMedulloblastomaMedulloblastoma is a highly malignant primary brain tumor that originates in the cerebellum or posterior fossa.Previously, medulloblastomas were thought to represent a subset of primitive neuroectodermal tumor of the posterior fossa...
, the most common childhood brain cancer. In 2010, the disease was identified as four distinctly different strains that can be treated in different ways.
- 2010: SickKids partnered with Hamad Medical CorporationHamad Medical CorporationHMC is an abbreviation for Hamad Medical Corporation, the premier non-profit health care provider in Doha, Qatar .- Brief summary :, is the premier non-profit health care provider in Doha, Qatar. Established by Emiri decree in 1979, the Corporation manages the following highly specialized...
in QatarQatarQatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar, is a sovereign Arab state, located in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its...
to advise on the creation of a state-of-the-art children’s hospital in the Middle EastMiddle EastThe Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
.
Funding
Medical treatments at SickKids are covered by publicly funded health insuranceMedicare (Canada)
Medicare is the unofficial name for Canada's publicly funded universal health insurance system. The formal terminology for the insurance system is provided by the Canada Health Act and the health insurance legislation of the individual provinces and territories.Under the terms of the Canada Health...
, as is the case in all Canadian hospitals.
Philanthropy is a critical source of funding for SickKids, separate and distinct from the funding received from government and granting agencies. Community support, which includes private donations from individuals, families, corporations and foundations, allows SickKids to invest in care, medical learning and research.
In 2009/10, SickKids Foundation invested $52.5 million in child health. Of that amount, the Foundation granted $47.9 million directly to the hospital and $4.6 million to national, international and other initiatives. This is one of the largest investments in children’s health care in Canada and one of the largest annual contributions to a hospital in the country.
A significant portion of the Foundation’s annual grant is directed to research infrastructure support. It also is invested into key patient care initiatives, purchase medical equipment, provide education and training to health-care professionals and fund various special programs aimed at enhancing child and family-centered care.