Before it became the renowned SickKids Hospital, Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children was an 11-room house with six iron cots, rented by a group of women who declared it open “for the admission and treatment of all sick children.”
The women were led by Elizabeth McMaster, a Toronto woman considered the founder of SickKids.
On April 3, 1875, Maggie, a young girl with a badly scalded arm, became SickKids’ first patient.
That was 150 years ago.
On Thursday, at an event celebrating the hospital’s milestone anniversary, Maryjane Leonard recalled being told as a child that her great-great grandmother, McMaster, had founded the hospital.
“Thinking about others and putting care out there and really fighting for something that’s important is harder maybe than it used to be,” Leonard said.
“And so, we feel really a lot of pride that she started something and other people have continued to make it a priority and to continue her work.”
In the past century and half, the hospital has had many firsts.
Researchers at SickKids invented Pablum in 1930. The hospital opened a pediatric intensive care unit in 1968, one of the first in North America. And it performed Canada’s first successful surgical separation of conjoined twins in 1971.
It also opened North America’s first pediatric multi-organ transplant program in 1998.
In 2009, it and Mount Sinai Hospital performed Canada’s first cardiac surgery in utero. SickKids doctors performed Canada’s first total artificial heart implant surgery in a child in 2022.
On Thursday, current and former patients, families, staff and politicians gathered to mark the occasions, many in the hospital’s signature blue colour, with balloons, cupcakes, music, speeches and special guests.
‘They make me always feel at home,’ says patient
Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones and Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow also joined the festivities.
Nori Cheong, 10, a SickKids patient, said she was excited to take part in the celebration.
Cheong is receiving medication and treatment at the hospital for her cancer, which returned this year. She was asked to hold a balloon in its birthday parade.
“I just can’t believe that they’re 150 years old. It also makes me really comfortable because I know they have 150 years of experience now too.
“I think it’s really fun thinking about how long they’ve been here for and how many kids they probably have saved,” Cheong said.
Cheong said she has nothing but praise for the hospital.
“My experiences at SickKids are always the best,” she said. “The staff here are always kind and amazing. They always comfort me and they make me feel special. They are all so awesome and they make me always feel at home.”
Dr. Ronald Cohn, the hospital’s president and CEO, said the hospital has much to celebrate on this anniversary, pointing to what he called its outstanding medical care, learning and research, and status as a leading children’s hospital.
“For that, let’s take one day and just be proud of it,” Cohn told the gathering.
Cohn said the hospital’s next chapter will be about personalizing its care for every child, combining data ranging from genetics to postal codes to provide individualized care.
