For more than 100 years, the Toronto Western Hospital has served the health care needs of its culturally diverse local community. Today, the hospital also provides highly specialized tertiary care to people across the nation.

TWH is a place where high tech meets high touch. Constantly pushing the boundaries of research, the staff of TWH pioneer treatments and use state-of-the-art technology to provide top-notch medical attention. All of this is done while maintaining the caring and personal touch that is so vital to helping people heal.

A Leader in Neuroscience
TWH achieved international acclaim for its Neuroscience Centre. It is a leading centre for clinical innovation and research in areas such as brain surgery, spinal cord injury, peripheral nerve pathology, movement disorders, chronic pain and conditions such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and epilepsy. As well, the centre has one of the largest training programs in the world for students entering the fields of neurology and neurosurgery.

A Strong Community Focus
With its Family and Community Medicine program as well as its Healthy Connections program, the hospital focuses on the community's needs, providing unique services and information for children, seniors and diabetes patients. TWH is a hub for outreach activities in areas such as community mental health and addictions, health promotion and multicultural health services.

The Patients We See
Toronto Western Hospital sees more than 320,000 patients annually through walk-in visits and treats more than 43,000 patients in its busy Emergency department. On top of this, more than 13,000 in-patients receive care each year. Staff at the hospital are constantly striving to provide exemplary patient care and foster excellence in health care delivery, research and teaching. That's our mission.

Research
Research continues to be a cornerstone at TWH as it plays such a vital role in providing the best patient care. The Toronto Western Research Institute fosters an environment where research is directly applied to patients' diseases, allowing new and unique therapies to be developed and utilized. The Institute seeks to achieve advances in understanding disease, preventing disease, improving care and developing innovative treatments that extend and improve life.

Teaching
Teaching has also been closely intertwined with TWH's history. Since the turn of the 19th century, the hospital has been and continues to be a teaching hospital through the University of Toronto. Throughout the hospital and in numerous disciplines, staff train the next generation of doctors, nurses, scientists and other health care professionals, passing on the art and science of their profession. This ranges from expertise in neurology and medical imaging to occupational therapy and community care.

First baby born at Toronto Western Hospital,
delivered by Dr. Augusta Stowe Gullen, 1896.

The first home for the Toronto Western Hospital
was this pair of semi-detached houses at 393-395 Manning Street.