Two-thirds of SickKids’ operating revenue comes from the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. Other significant funding sources are research grants and community philanthrophy through SickKids Foundation.

About 8,000 health-care professionals, scientists, trainees and administrative and support staff work at SickKids. The number varies throughout the year due to the rotation of trainees and other transitory staff.

In 2009-2010, financial support from SickKids Foundation to The Hospital for Sick Children totaled $47.9 million.

SickKids provides a full spectrum of health-care services across the continuum of care to infants, children and youth up to age 18. The Hospital has about 370 beds that are configured around 17 medical and 11 perioperative specialties.

SickKids’ healthy work environment is reflected in the average number of sick days of 4.7, which is less than half of Ontario Hospital Association’s average. The turnover rate is also low: in 2009-2010 the voluntary attrition rate at SickKids was just 3.5 per cent. 

SickKids Foundation has 300,000 donors. This represents the second-largest donor base for a children’s hospital in North America.

Inter-professional teams at SickKids include audiologists, chaplains, child life specialists, clinical dietitians, nurses, occupational therapists,perfusionists, pharmacists, physicians, physiotherapists, psychologists, respiratory therapists, social workers, and speech-language pathologists.

The Research Institute annually has about 1,000 trainees (including summer students). In 2009 they came from Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Brazil, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Cuba, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Portugal, Romania, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States and Uruguay.

With almost 58,000 patients a year, the Emergency Department at SickKids is one of the busiest paediatric emergency departments in Canada.

A recent renovation of the SickKids Emergency Department introduced the first patient-centred triage and registration process in Ontario, as well as bigger procedure rooms, enhanced security and infection control, and ultimately, better service for patients and their families.

Clinics are a primary point of access to specialized care at SickKids. In 2009-2010 the busiest clinics were Oncology (23,000 clinic visits), Ophthalmology (18,000 clinic visits) and Orthopaedics (16,000 clinic visits).

In one year, more than 215,000 children visited the more than 30 major ambulatory clinics and the day-care areas that provide extended treatment and post-procedure recovery.

A unique ambulatory referral management system at SickKids improves access to paediatric specialties, ensuring patients receive the right care, in the right place and at the right time.

SickKids has 17 Child Life specialists. Their job is to assess the developmental level of patients and their responses to illness and treatment, and help promote effective coping through play, preparation, education, and self-expression activities.

SickKids regularly welcomes luminaries, dignitaries, and sports, music and film stars who drop by to cheer up patients. Prominent visitors in recent years include the Prime Minister of Canada, the Duke of York, Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress of Japan, world-renowned pianist Lang Lang – and Thumbelina, one of the world’s smallest horses.

SickKids Women’s Auxiliary, which celebrates 60 years of service in 2010, has more than 200 active members who staff the information desk, the surgical waiting room, The Play Park for siblings of patients, and the 5Fifty5 Shop which raises funds for the Hospital.

Unintentional injury is the leading cause of death among children in Canada. To prevent injury, Safe Kids Canada at SickKids raises awareness, educates and advocates for safer surroundings for children.

Family Legal Health Program at SickKids is the first of its kind in Canada. The program offers legal assistance to address non-medical issues that impact a child’s health or a family’s capacity to care for their sick child. The service is provided free of charge by Pro Bono Law Ontario.

Motherisk, a well-known program at SickKids, has been replicated in Japan, Israel and other countries.  The program provides information to pregnant and breastfeeding women about risks to the fetus or infant from exposure to drugs, chemicals, diseases, etc.

MyHealth Passport is an online service that helps teenage patients at SickKids when they transfer to adult care. The passport is a wallet-sized card that lists a person’s medical conditions, past treatments, medications, allergies, and other health issues.

SickKids Foundation is the largest funder of the SickKids Research Institute.

SickKids Foundation is Canada’s fourth-largest foundation in terms of total assets and the third-largest of 2,887 foundations in terms of awarding grants.

The new Norman Saunders Complex Care Initiative at SickKids introduces a model of care for children with complex health needs, a vulnerable and growing group of patients. Members of the team define what patients and families need in order to cope and how services can best be delivered.

SickKids Telemedicine connects with more than 150 urban and rural sites across Canada and around the world, using live interactive videoconferencing technology and high-speed telecommunications networks to facilitate patient consultation and education.

AboutKidsHealth.ca is a dynamic website that offers advice on many diseases and conditions. More than 1.5 million visitors annually seek information from the site; in a typical month the site has visitors from 180 countries on six continents and 500 Canadian cities.

The electronic Child Health Network, eCHN, was built at SickKids. The province-wide system holds the health records for about 1.5 million children and is in use in more than 100 Ontario hospitals and health-care facilities.

The Ontario Poison Centre was established at SickKids in 1979. The centre, which serves both children and adults, provides telephone information and advice about exposure to poisonous substances.

Asthma is the most common chronic childhood illness in North America. Researchers at SickKids have estimated that one in six children in Ontario will be diagnosed with asthma by age 10, and one in three people will be diagnosed with asthma in their lifetime.

Sprinkles, developed by SickKids scientists in collaboration with The Kintampo Health Research Centre of the Ghana Ministry of Health, have been used in at least 18 different countries, reaching as many as five million children. More than 200 million small sachets of the micronutrient have been produced to control vitamin and mineral deficiencies.

Researchers at SickKids and the University of British Columbia have used skin-derived stem cells to repair spinal cord injuries in animal models.

About 2,000 staff work at the Research Institute, spread around the campus in locations spanning several city blocks, including 101 College St. (982 steps from the Office of the Chief of Research at 555 University Ave.), 180 Dundas St. (471 steps), 88 Elm St. (423 steps), 123 Edward St. (415 steps), 525 University Ave. (250 steps), and 600 University Ave. (659 steps). A solution is around the corner; learn more about the Research & Learning Tower. 

The Database of Genomic Variants (known as the Toronto Database) at The Centre for Applied Genomics (TCAG) is the world’s premier source for copy number variations, data that facilitate hundreds of research projects and tens of thousands of clinical diagnoses each year.

If it were a piece of thread, the DNA in one person’s genome (three gigabases) would stretch from Toronto to Ottawa. TCAG is able to sequence 50 gigabases of DNA a week, which would stretch the thread from Toronto to London, England. It would take eight weeks to create a thread that would stretch around the equator.

The Centre for the Study of Complex Childhood Diseases is the first of its kind in Canada. This new state-of-the-art research facility infrastructure will provide whole body, physiological, pharmacological, neurological and nutritional metabolic translation research for complex childhood diseases.

SickKids holds 30 Canada Research Chairs and 25 endowed chairs, and is home to 14 Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada, two Michael Smith Award winners, two Howard Hughes Medical Institute International Research Scholars, one foreign associate of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, two winners of the Ontario Premier’s Summit Award, four Top 40 Under 40 Award winners in the past decade, one CIHR Scientific Director and many other distinguished scientists.

The Therapeutic Clown Program at SickKids provides approximately 15, 000 patient visits per year.

SickKids Learning Institute has expertise in conference planning. One of the first events organized by the Learning Institute brought together delegates from 26 countries.