The Queen is not Amused...but I am.

whyilovetoronto:

Why I Love Toronto Reason #319

Hospital For Sick Children

Yes, hospitals are absolutely the most depressing place in the world, especially when the patient admitted is a child. No nobody, doctors, patients or visitors want to see an ill child – it is truly heartbreaking. However, I think it is important to put SickKids on this list because it is truly one of the most respected hospitals for children in the world. That is why we have to love it. SickKids is Canada’s leading centre in the advancement of children’s health and has contributed to discoveries that have saved the lives of children all over the world.  

The Hospital for Sick Children has been around for a very long time. In fact it dates back to 1875. Elizabeth McMaster rented a home in Toronto with six cots in it where all sick children could be admitted and treated. The first patient was on April 3^rd. Eventually demand for the hospitals services increased and therefore the hospital moved to a new building a year later.  However, even though the new facility could hold 10 more patients it still wasn’t enough. It then moved again in 1891 to a 320 bed facility on Elizabeth and College. It wasn’t until 1951 that SickKids moved to the property it is on today.

The Hospital has been associated with many firsts in the health field and in general has done some pretty remarkable things. For example during the polio epidemic the hospital built 30 iron lungs. It pioneered the Salter Operation (which is a way to repair a dislocated hip) and the Mustard Operation (fixing a heart defect). In the 60’s Sick Kids was one of few hospitals on the continent to open an intensive care unit for premature babies and critically ill ones as well. It was also the pioneer is child blood transfusion and discovered the gene responsible for cystic fibrosis. These are just some of the accomplishments this hospital has partaken in – the others I tried to explain, but  when I edited this post I was confused about how I worded and described them.

The hospital is for children patients so therefore it is child focused. It provides them with a childlike environment allowing them to play and draw which is important. My last crush even read to children at SickKids and noted that seeing them smile was the most heartwarming feeling in the world. This is all important because sometimes a child who is admitted to a regular hospital for periods of time is forced to grow up too quickly. A hospital is scary for all of us, but especially for children. There needs to be time for when the children can forget that they are sick and be reminded that they are a child and that is what I love about SickKids, since their patients are all children they can cater specifically to them.

Many of my readers I bet can say they have been to SickKids s a patient – I can tell you that I was once treated there as was my sister. But it’s not just us Torontonians or Canadians that are treated here. Children from all over the world come to SickKids for lifesaving operations and doctors in the field of children’s medicine look to SickKids when help maybe needed. I don’t love the fact that children get sick – I don’t. I am always heartbroken when a child is ill, it is a terrible thing because they are so young. But the fact that SickKids is doing everything they can to help children and is such a respected children’s hospital is such an amazing thing and it is an honour that it is here in Toronto. The work the doctors and researchers do at SickKids is amazing and

That is Why I Love Toronto.