Author:  Patricia Nicholson

A lot can be accomplished in a hundred years. Especially if determined, visionary women are leading the progress. That much is clear from the images in 100 Years of Women’s College Hospital: A Photography Exhibition, which launched on Jan. 11, 2011 at Brookfield Place in Toronto.

The photos on display follow the development of Women’s College from its modest beginnings as a seven-bed hospital in 1911, through its many accomplishments and breakthroughs as a leader in women’s health. It also pays tribute to some of the trailblazers of women’s health with portraits of the pioneering women behind Women’s College Hospital.

The exhibit, which runs until Jan. 23, is the beginning of a whole year of celebrations at Women’s College Hospital in honour of the hospital’s 100th anniversary. Keep up with events and news at the 100th Anniversary website; read what the milestone means to Women’s College doctors, staff and community; and add your own voice to 100 Years of Women’s Health by sharing what women’s health means to you. Or take a piece of history home with you by ordering your own copy of one of the historic photos from the exhibition.

A century ago, women’s health mainly meant obstetrics. Now, it means everything from cardiovascular rehabilitation programs designed specifically for women, to breakthroughs in diagnoses and screening such as mammography and the Pap test. It means research that focuses on women, and treatment programs for conditions that disproportionately affect women – such as osteoarthritis, osteoporosis and depression – that deliver care in ways that are relevant to women’s lives.

That’s what Women’s College Hospital is celebrating in 2011: 100 years of visionary leadership in women’s health.

The Women in Women’s College

Because of its leadership role in women’s health and women’s health research, it’s easy to assume that the “women” in Women’s College Hospital are the patients. But originally, the “women” in the hospital’s name also referred to doctors: the hospital began as a place where medically trained women could practice medicine at a time when no other institution welcomed female physicians.

Dr. Emily Stowe was the first Canadian woman to practice medicine in Canada, but she had to train in the U.S. because no Canadian medical school accepted women. In 1883, Dr. Stowe was instrumental in the founding of Woman’s Medical College, the first medical college for women in Canada.

Woman’s Medical College became Ontario Medical College for Women in 1895, and opened a clinic in 1898 where students could gain experience. This clinic was called the Dispensary, and offered women in the community the novel experience of being treated by female physicians.

The Dispensary remained open even after Ontario Medical College for Women closed when the University of Toronto began accepting women students in 1906. Three years later, a group of women formed a committee to establish a new hospital and merge it with the Dispensary. This was accomplished in 1911 with the launch of a modest seven-bed facility called Women’s College Hospital and Dispensary.

A century of breakthroughs

It’s no surprise that a women’s hospital run by women doctors was a huge success with patients, and by 1915 the hospital needed more space. Women’s College has been growing ever since, and making great strides in medicine and research. Here are a few of the breakthroughs and milestones from Women’s College Hospital’s first century:

1947 collaborated in the development of a simplified Pap test to detect early signs of cervical cancer
1948 established Ontario’s first cancer detection clinic for women
1961 the first Canadian women’s hospital to become a fully accredited teaching hospital
1963 the first hospital in Ontario to use mammography
1971 opened TRIDEC, the first comprehensive education program for people with diabetes in an ambulatory setting
1973 established the Bay Centre for Birth Control, the first hospital-supported walk-in centre
1984 opened Ontario’s first hospital-based centre for victims of sexual assault
1988 delivered Canada’s first test-tube quintuplets
1995 established Canada’s largest research institute focused on women’s health
1996 launched the first cardiac rehabilitation program for women in Canada
1996 launched Canada’s first sports medicine clinic specifically for women
2006 became the only ambulatory hospital in Ontario focused on women’s health
2015 will open a brand new, state-of-the-art building, now under construction, that will combine research, care and education dedicated to women’s health

Women’s College is dedicated to making its second century as groundbreaking as the first. Join in the celebration in 2011, and watch the future take shape as the hospital’s new building goes up on its current site.