Before he became the famous Sickkid Hospital, Toronto’s sick children’s hospital was a 11 -room house with six iron cribs, rented by a group of women who declared open “for the admission and treatment of all sick children.”
The women were directed by Elizabeth McMaster, a Toronto woman considered the founder of Sickkids.
On April 3, 1875, Maggie, a girl with a badly scalded arm, became the first patient of Sickkids.
That was 150 years ago.
On Thursday, in an event that celebrates the hospital’s anniversary, Maryjane Leonard recalled that she was told when she was a girl that her great -great grandmother, McMaster, had founded the hospital.
“Thinking about others and taking care and really fighting for something that is important is more difficult than it used to be,” said Leonard.
“And so, we feel a lot of pride that she started something and other people have continued to make it a priority and continue their work.”
In the last century and half, the hospital has had many news.
Sickids researchers invented Pablum in 1930. The hospital opened a pediatric intensive care unit in 1968, one of the first in North America. E performed the first successful surgical separation of Canada from united twins in 1971.
He also opened the first pediatric multiple organ transplant program in North America in 1998.
In 2009, IT and Mount Sinai Hospital performed the first cardiac surgery of Canada in the uterus. The Sickids doctors performed the first total artificial heart implants surgery in a child in 2022.
On Thursday, patients, families, personal and previous and previous political gathered to mark the occasions, many in the characteristic blue color of the hospital, with balloons, cakes, music, speeches and special guests.
“They always make me feel at home,” says patient
The Minister of Health of Ontario, Sylvia Jones, and the mayor of Toronto, Olivia Chow, also joined the festivities.
Nori Cheong, 10, a Sickids patient, said she was excited to participate in the celebration.
Cheong is receiving medications and treatment at the hospital for its cancer, which returned this year. He was asked to hold a balloon in his birthday parade.
“I can’t believe they are 150 years old. It also makes me very comfortable because I know that now they also have 150 years of experience.
“I think it’s very fun to think about how long they have been here and how many children have probably saved,” said Cheong.
Cheong said he has only praise for the hospital.
“My experiences in Sickkids are always the best,” he said. “The staff here is always friendly and surprising. They always comfort me and make me feel special. They are all incredible and make me feel at home.”
Dr. Ronald Cohn, president and CEO of the Hospital, said that the hospital has much to celebrate on this anniversary, pointing out what he called his outstanding medical care, learning and research and status as a main hospital of children.
“Therefore, let’s take a day and be proud of it,” Cohn told The Gathering.
Cohn said that the next chapter of the hospital will be to customize their attention for each child, combining data ranging from genetics to postal codes to provide individualized care.
