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31-810: Historically, the Laidlaw Foundation supported institutions such as the Hospital for Sick Children , the National Ballet of Canada , the National Ballet School , Upper Canada College , and the Royal Ontario Museum , among many others. In recent decades, the foundation has moved away from making major gifts to large institutions, shifting its focus to organizations and initiatives addressing child poverty, civic engagement, at-risk youth, justice for Indigenous communities, environmental sustainability, and

62-468: A "morale problem." The excess deaths continued, but it was not until March 1981 that a bereaved father's extreme distress led to the coroner being brought in and detecting suspiciously high levels of a heart regulating medication digoxin, a powerful form of digitalis, in a dead baby. Metro Toronto coroner Dr. Paul Tepperman said that he was first called to the hospital on March 12, 1981, because Kevin Garnett,

93-551: A nurse using the heart medication digoxin . However, after years of inquiry it remains unclear if any murders actually took place or if toxicological tests were misinterpreted. In 2024, retired SickKids paediatric intensive care specialist Dr. Desmond Bohn, who took the latter position, pointed to similarities in the British Lucy Letby case. The hospital housed the Motherisk Drug Testing Laboratory. At

124-449: A nurse, who was released on bail. In January 1982, babies became ill in a separate department. It was later found that epinephrine , which was not supposed to be on that ward, had somehow been substituted for vitamin E . There had been non-fatal unauthorized digoxin administration to other babies, and another death was, contrary to what the hospital had said at the time, caused by unauthorized administration of digoxin. In September 1981,

155-536: A series of motiveless murders strained credulity. The exonerated nurse did not believe that there had been any murders, and in a 2011 interview, she reiterated that the 1985 inquiry report had been incorrect in stating that many deaths during a rise in mortality on the ward (from one a week to five) had been deliberate homicides. Data from the investigation was sent to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , which discovered that another nurse, Phyllis Trayner,

186-415: A year by a Toronto women's bible study group, led by Elizabeth McMaster . Opened on March 1, it set up six iron cots and "declared open a hospital 'for the admission and treatment of all sick children.'" The first patient, a scalding victim named Maggie, came in on April 3. In its first year of operation, 44 patients were admitted to the hospital, and 67 others were treated in outpatient clinics. In 1876,

217-738: The Ontario Ministry of Education to school boards, private schools and child care centres to use in COVID-19 vaccination educational programs. A second proposal was titled “Stop COVID in Kids - School based vaccine education outreach to build trust and empower families”, which received additional funding in the form of a $ 440,000 grant from the Public Health Agency of Canada 's Immunization Partnership Fund. In 1980-81, up to 29 baby deaths at SickKids were suspected to have been deliberate murders by

248-623: The ROM to small theatre companies such as Buddies in Bad Times, Theatre Passe Muraille, and the Ballet Creole. In addition, the foundation established new funding priorities addressing civic engagement and social inequities, funding social infrastructure for at-risk youth, as well as policy and advocacy initiatives that promoted structural solutions to child poverty. Since 2014, the Laidlaw Foundation has been led by Executive Director Jehad Aliweiwi. Following

279-605: The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). One of the funded proposals was titled “Building COVID-19 Vaccine Confidence: Educating the Educators.” The result was a promotional video titled “COVID-19 Vaccination Information for Education & Child Care Sector Staff” narrated by Dr. Danielle Martin . It was produced by 19 to Zero , and distributed by

310-454: The University of Toronto , the hospital was ranked the top pediatric hospital in the world by Newsweek in 2021. The hospital's Peter Gilgan Centre for Research and Learning is believed to be the largest pediatric research tower in the world, at 69,677.28 square metres (750,000.0 sq ft). During 1875, an eleven-room house was rented for CA$ 320 (equivalent to $ 9,327 in 2023)

341-531: The 2015 release of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, the foundation pledged to support the implementation of the 94 calls to action, and has since given greater priority to addressing the needs of Indigenous communities. The Laidlaw Foundation's 2019-2024 Strategic Plan prioritizes "a deeper emphasis on youth-led systems change"; this includes focussing on "under-served youth impacted by

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372-524: The Cardiac Ward of the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Ontario , Canada between July 1980 and March 1981. The deaths started after a cardiology ward had been divided into two new adjacent wards. The deaths ended after the police had been called in, and the digitalis-type medication ( digoxin ) that had possibly been used for the alleged killings had begun to be kept under lock and key. Three nurses were at

403-475: The arts. Today, the foundation's work prioritizes Indigenous issues, and youth organizing for community change. In 1961, the Laidlaw Foundation hired its first full-time staff member, Mary Claire Thomas. Thomas, who completed her Master's of Social Work at the University of Toronto, led the foundation until her retirement in 1982. Although she was hired under the title of Secretary, "she was responsible for running

434-484: The centre of the investigation and an apparent attempt to poison nurses' food. One of the nurses, Susan Nelles, was charged with four murders, but the prosecution was dismissed a year later on the grounds that she could not have been responsible for a death excluded from the indictment, which the judge deemed a murder. A conspiracy between multiple nurses was regarded by the judge as not credible. The lead detective resigned. An official government inquiry discounted claims by

465-525: The childhood home of the Canadian-born movie star Mary Pickford . In 1972, the hospital became equipped with a rooftop helipad (CNW8). From 1980 to 1981, the hospital was the site of a series of baby deaths . In December 2022, the hospital was attacked by the LockBit ransomware gang, who apologized 13 days later and provided a decryptor to the hospital for free. The hospital was an early leader in

496-463: The deaths of children, was not qualified to do forensic testing. The hospital is in its initial stages of expansion. In 2017, it established the "SickKids VS Limits" fundraising campaign, which continued until 2022 to raise $ 1.5 billion for the expansion project. The funds will be used to build a patient care centre on University Avenue and a support centre on Elizabeth Street, to renovate the atrium, and to fund pediatric health research. To provide

527-479: The deaths. The deaths are still believed to be homicides by some, such as the epidemiologist Alexandra M. Levitt, who devoted one chapter of a 2015 book to the case. The Cardiac Ward of the Hospital for Sick Children began what was subsequently found to be a several-fold increase in mortality on June 30, 1980. Within two months, 20 patient deaths led to a group of nurses approaching the unit's cardiologists, but they kept investigation limited and in house to prevent

558-515: The father of Kevin Pacsai, "was unusually upset" over the death of his three-week-old son that day. It was only on March 20, 1981, eight days later, that he was told about an autopsy in January on Janice Estrella, who had a digoxin level in her bloodstream that was the highest that he had ever heard of. Eight days later, he was told that an autopsy by the hospital had found 13 times the normal concentration of

589-503: The fields of food safety and nutrition . In 1908, a pasteurization facility for milk was established at the hospital, the first in Toronto, 30 years before milk pasteurization became mandatory. Researchers at the hospital invented an infant cereal, Pablum . The research that led to the discovery of insulin took place at the nearby University of Toronto and was soon applied in the hospital by Gladys Boyd . Dr. Frederick Banting , one of

620-478: The hospital moved to larger facilities. In 1891, it moved from rented premises to a purposely-constructed building at College and Elizabeth Streets. It would remain there for 60 years. The building, known as the Victoria Hospital for Sick Children , is now the Toronto area headquarters of Canadian Blood Services . In 1951, the hospital moved to its present University Avenue location. On its grounds once stood

651-411: The hospital's own former chief of pediatrics that the deaths were not homicides and were not proven to be from digoxin. A second suspect was not prosecuted. It has been later argued that a chemical compound, which can leach out of rubber tubing that was used in medical apparatus for feeding and delivery of medication and can be mistakenly identified by medical tests as digoxin, had been the cause of some of

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682-460: The justice, education, and child welfare systems, and redoubling the commitment to elevate their needs and amplify their voices." The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto The Hospital for Sick Children ( HSC ), corporately branded as SickKids , is a major pediatric teaching hospital located on University Avenue in Toronto , Ontario , Canada. Affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine of

713-416: The organization and devising policies and new programs with the board." In 1982, the Laidlaw Foundation hired Nathan Gilbert, 30, as its new Foundation Secretary (later Executive Director), a role he served in until his retirement in 2013. During this period, the foundation continued its support for environmental initiatives and cultural projects, but shifted focus from large legacy cultural institutions like

744-552: The request of various child protection agencies, 16,000 hair samples were tested from 2005 to 2015. The former Ontario Appeal Court judge Susan Lang reviewed Motherisk Drug Testing Laboratory and determined that it was not qualified to do forensic testing. Lang also stated, "That SickKids failed to exercise meaningful oversight over MDTL's work must be considered in the context of the hospital's experience with Dr. Charles Smith ." The 2008 Goudge Report found also that Dr. Charles Smith, whose forensic testimony led to wrongful convictions in

775-490: The required area for the buildings, demolition of existing structures was required. That included the removal of a skyway spanning Elizabeth Street, the demolition of the Elizabeth McMaster Building at the northeast corner of Elizabeth Street and Elm Street, and the demolition of the laboratory and administrative building. Construction of the 22-storey Patient Support Centre administrative building occurred on

806-554: The researchers, had served his internship at the hospital and went on to become an attending physician there. In 1963, William Thornton Mustard developed the Mustard surgical procedure to help correct heart problems in blue baby syndrome . In 1989, a team of researchers at the hospital discovered the gene responsible for cystic fibrosis . SickKids is a member of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO),

837-400: The same heart drug in another dead baby. The medication had not been subject to any security measures. Police were called in and began to search staff lockers when another baby died from digoxin poisoning on 22 March 1981. Examination of work logs and other nurses' subjective impression that a colleague had inappropriate reactions to the deaths led to the arrest and the charging with murder of

868-532: The site of the Elizabeth McMaster Building. Groundbreaking took place in October 2019, topping out took place in September 2022, and it opened in September 2023. The Peter Gilgan Family Patient Care Tower is expected to open in 2029, and the atrium's renovation is expected to be completed by 2031. Toronto hospital baby deaths The Toronto hospital baby deaths were a series of suspicious deaths that occurred in

899-464: The team leader nurse Phyllis Trayner (died 2011) found propranolol tablets in food that she was eating, and another nurse found the tablets in her soup. Susan Nelles was arrested and charged with murder, but a judge acquitted her at the preliminary hearing stage and the case never went to trial, partly because she had not been on duty during one death which the judge decided to be an additional murder, and for more than one nurse to have been involved in

930-658: The world's largest advocacy organization representing the biotechnology industry. During the COVID-19 pandemic , SickKids engaged in several campaigns to promote COVID-19 vaccines . SickKids received $ 99,680.00 from the Government of Canada for two projects through a grant program titled "Encouraging vaccine confidence in Canada." The grant was jointly administered by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC),

961-405: Was the only person who had been on duty for all 29 cases of death being examined. A commission of inquiry listed eight of the baby deaths as murder, with another 13 as highly suspicious. Even after the commission had started its work, another death apparently by digoxin poisoning occurred. The commission decided not to take that into account. Trayner, who denied any impropriety in her behaviour on

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