Toronto General Hospital

Summary

The Toronto General Hospital (TGH) is a major teaching hospital in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and the flagship campus of University Health Network (UHN). It is located in the Discovery District of Downtown Toronto along University Avenue's Hospital Row; it is directly north of The Hospital for Sick Children, across Gerrard Street West, and east of Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and Mount Sinai Hospital. The hospital serves as a teaching hospital for the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine. In 2019, the hospital was ranked first for research in Canada by Research Infosource for the ninth consecutive year.[1]

Toronto General Hospital
University Health Network
Map
Geography
Location200 Elizabeth Street
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 2C4
Organisation
Care systemMedicare
TypeTeaching
Affiliated universityUniversity of Toronto Faculty of Medicine
PatronSophie, Duchess of Edinburgh
Services
Emergency departmentYes
Beds471
SpecialityCardiology and Transplantation
History
Opened1812
Links
Websitewww.uhn.ca/OurHospitals/TGH

The emergency department now treats 28,065 persons each year, while the hospital also houses the major transplantation service for Ontario, performing heart, lung, kidney, liver, pancreas, and small intestine, amongst others, for patients referred from all over Canada. The hospital is the largest organ transplant center in North America, performing 639 transplants in 2017.[2] The hospital is also renowned for cardiac and thoracic surgery. The world's first single and double lung transplants were performed at TGH in 1983 and 1986 and the world's first valve-sparing aortic root replacement was done by Tirone David at Toronto General Hospital in 1992.[3] The Lung Transplant program is currently the largest in the world, performing 167 lung transplants in 2017.[4] In 2015, surgeons performed the world's first triple organ transplant (lung, liver and pancreas) in 19 year old Reid Wylie at Toronto General Hospital.[5] TGH teaches resident physicians, nurses, and technicians; it also conducts research through the Toronto General Research Institute.

Currently, Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, as a member of the Canadian Royal Family, is patron of the hospital.

History edit

 
The Toronto General Hospital as it appeared in 1895
 
Toronto General Hospital main entrance

The hospital started as a small shed in the old town and was used as a British Army military hospital during the War of 1812, after which it was founded as a permanent institution – York General Hospital – in 1829, at John and King Streets (now home to Bell Lightbox). In 1855 a new home for the hospital was built on the north side of Gerrard Street, east of Parliament, using a design by architect William Hay. In 1913, the hospital moved to College Street, near its current location, expanding and upgrading over the ensuing years. The 1913 structure, previously called the College Wing, was eventually sold by the hospital, to become the home of the MaRS Discovery District after a new wing for the TGH was completed and opened in 2002.

Ajmera Transplant Centre edit

Toronto General Hospital was the largest organ transplantation center in North America in 2017, performing 639 transplants in total.[2]

  • Lung - TGH performed 167 lung transplants, making it the largest lung transplant program in the world.[2]
  • Liver - TGH performed 195 liver Transplants with 39 of those living donor transplants in 2017 making the program the largest in North America.[2]
  • Kidney - TGH performed 202 kidney transplants, 65 of those were living donor transplants, making the program the largest in Canada
  • Heart - TGH performed 34 heart transplants in 2017, making the program the largest in Canada
  • Pancreas - TGH performed 8 pancreas transplants in 2018, making the program the largest in Canada.
  • Kidney-Pancreas - TGH performed 34 kidney-pancreas transplants in 2017, making the program the largest in Canada.
  • Small Bowel - TGH performed 1 small bowel transplant in 2018.

Peter Munk Cardiac Centre edit

Toronto General Hospital is the home of the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre (PMCC), which is one of the largest open heart centers in Canada and is ranked first in Canada and in the top ten in North America for academic productivity.[6] Many clinical firsts in cardiovascular care were performed at TGH. The center is named after Peter Munk, the founder and chairman of Barrick Gold corporation, who donated $100 million in 2017, the largest donation to a hospital in Canadian history, at the time.[7] He donated a total of $175 million since 1993 to the hospital.[8]

Research edit

Toronto General Hospital has had many research achievements, including:

  • The development and first clinical use of insulin in the treatment of diabetes – 1922 [9]
  • World's first clinical use of the anticoagulant heparin – 1935 [9]
  • World's first external heart pacemaker used in open heart resuscitation – 1950 [9]
  • World's first successful valve transplant – 1955 [10]
  • World's first coronary care unit – 1965 [10]
  • World's first successful single lung transplant (Tom Hall) – 1983 [9]
  • World's first successful double lung transplant (Ann Harrison) – 1986 [9]
  • World's first aortic valve transplant using the Toronto Heart Valve – 1987 [10]
  • Canada's first and largest HIV/AIDS clinic, the Immunodeficiency Clinic – 1994 [9]
  • World's first successful triple organ transplant (lung, liver and pancreas) – 2015 [11]
  • Canada's first hand transplant – 2016 [12]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "UHN RANKED NO. 1 IN CANADA'S TOP 40 RESEARCH HOSPITALS FOR 2017". UHN. UHN. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d "UHN now largest adult transplant program in North America". UHN. Retrieved 3 Jan 2019.
  3. ^ David, TE (April 1992). "An aortic valve-sparing operation for patients with aortic incompetence and aneurysm of the ascending aorta". J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 103 (4): 617–622. doi:10.1016/S0022-5223(19)34942-6. PMID 1532219.
  4. ^ "UHN now home to largest transplant program in North America". UHN. 5 March 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  5. ^ "Triple Transplant Teen Doing Well at Three Months After Rare Surgery". Newswise. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
  6. ^ "Cardiac Care Network". Cardiac Care Network. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
  7. ^ Hall, Joseph (11 January 2018). "A donor is giving a record $100 million to CAMH — and doesn't want to be named". Toronto Star. Toronto Star. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
  8. ^ Gignac, Julien (19 September 2017). "Peter Munk donates $100 million to the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre". Toronto Star. Toronto Star. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  9. ^ a b c d e f "UHN:". Archived from the original on 2013-01-22. Retrieved 2013-02-26.
  10. ^ a b c "PMCC Firsts in Cardiology". www.uhn.ca. Archived from the original on 2018-08-27. Retrieved 2014-01-05.
  11. ^ "Triple Transplant Teen Doing Well at Three Months After Rare Surgery". www.newswise.com.
  12. ^ "Trillium Gift of Life Network - Ontario's Organ and Tissue Donation Agency : Transplants". Trillium Gift of Life. Trillium Gift of Life. Retrieved 14 November 2019.

External links edit

  • Hospital website
  • Research
  • Health Innovation
  • MaRS Discovery District's "History of the MaRS Heritage Building" touches on the TGH's early history and design.

43°39′32″N 79°23′19″W / 43.658977°N 79.388505°W / 43.658977; -79.388505