Yearbook 125: Faces of Transformation
Impact Report 2023 – 2024
It has been a year of transformation at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital. This report celebrates the faces of change behind the high quality, compassionate and client-and-family centred care we provide and our commitment to excellence in research and teaching. Through our review of the past year, we also reflect upon our 125-year history. From the opening of our doors in 1899 to today, 2024, we celebrate Holland Bloorview’s role in championing a world of possibility.
We kicked off 2024 with a year-long celebration of Holland Bloorview’s 125th anniversary. That’s 125 years of caring for and making history alongside children and youth with disabilities and developmental differences. As we celebrate this milestone, we’re reflecting on the people who have made it possible: our dedicated staff, the children, youth and families we serve, our donors, volunteer community and our funding partners. Because of you, health care, inclusion and meaningful futures are led by compassion, transformed by research and education, and powered by innovation.
During this historic year, we took significant steps towards right-sizing pediatric health care, prioritizing the inclusion of marginalized communities and driving life-changing research.
The Make Kids Count Action Plan, made possible by funding from the Ministry of Health, allowed us to expand our team of specialists, and reduce wait times and better meet our clients’ complex and evolving needs. We also began tracking client socio-demographic data (such as ethnicity, income and gender identity) to better understand how these factors affect the overall health and well-being of the clients and families we serve.
In the spring of 2023, the Bloorview Research Institute (BRI) opened the doors of the new Jason Smith Research Tower. With this expanded space, funded entirely by donors, the BRI now has the highest concentration of pediatric disability research in the world – fueling groundbreaking discoveries and innovative care interventions.
Through it all, your generosity, enthusiasm and trust powered our work and is opening a world of possibility for countless children and families. As we commemorate 125 years of care and service, we recognize that this is just the beginning. We are filled with hope and optimism for the journey ahead.
As we reflect on 2023-2024 and our milestone 125th anniversary, we are reminded of our commitment to truth and reconciliation, which is based on partnership and respect for the many ways of learning, knowing, and being.
We acknowledge Tkaronto (Toronto), a Mohawk word meaning, “the place in the water where the trees are standing.” We live and work on the traditional territory of the Haudenosaunee-speaking nations, including the Huron-Wendat, Seneca and Mohawk. The legacy of this meeting place, where people have gathered for 15,000 years, informs our work to decolonize the health-care system and value all ways of knowing and healing.
We are grateful, honoured and humbled to have the opportunity to, in partnership with clients and families, provide care and services for children, youth and families with disabilities and developmental differences in this city and on the territory known as Turtle Island (North America).
Chi Miigwetch, Nia:weh, Merci – Thank you.
