Women’s College Hospital: Our legacy for innovation

In 1883, we opened Woman’s Medical College, the first institution to provide women with a medical education.

In 1911, we created a hospital where medically trained women could practice medicine at a time when that wasn’t possible anywhere else.

In 1948, we opened the first Cancer Detection Clinic that pioneered the practice of screening healthy women for early signs of cancer.

In 1963, we were the first hospital in Ontario to use mammography to diagnose breast cancer.

In 1971, we partnered in the Tri-Hospital Diabetes Education Centre, the first comprehensive teaching program for people with diabetes.

In 1973, we opened the Bay Centre for Birth Control, the first hospital-supported walk-in clinic.

In 1984, we opened the first hospital-based program in Ontario to help victims of sexual assault and violence.

In 1987, we established the Brief Psychotherapy Centre for Women, the first hospital-based therapy program in Canada.

In 1988, we delivered the first test-tube quintuplets in Canada.

In 1991, we launched the first colorectal cancer clinic in Toronto.

In 1994, we opened the first multidisciplinary osteoporosis clinic of its kind in Canada.

In 1995, we were designated a World Health Organization Collaborating Centre in Women’s Health, the first in the hemisphere.

In 1996, we opened the Environmental Health Clinic, the only one of its kind in Ontario.

In 1996, we established North America’s first cardiac prevention and rehabilitation program designed exclusively for women.

In 2000, we created www.womenshealthmatters.ca, the first hospital-based consumer health information website for women.

In 2006, we became Ontario’s only academic ambulatory hospital with a primary focus on women’s health.

In 2008, we completed Canada’s first breast implant reconstruction in a single stage.

In 2009, we opened the Centre for Headache, Ontario’s only hospital-based headache centre.