On May 6, 1874, The Queen Elizabeth Hospital opened its doors at a modest residence at the corner of Bathurst and King streets. The Toronto Home for Incurables, as it was then known, was established in response to a desperate need for long-term care.
As the need for chronic care continued to grow, the Home was moved in 1879 to a sprawling new Gothic-style building on Dunn Avenue, in Toronto's Parkdale neighbourhood. The Home was later renamed The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, in honour of the Queen Mother. Over the years the buildings were added to until a new 301-bed modern facility replaced the original collection of buildings in 1979.
In the 1930s and '40s, the hospital began to formalize therapy for patients. A department of Occupational Therapy was started and soon the University of Toronto was sending students for clinical instruction. In the 1940s, the hospital boasted one of the finest Physiotherapy departments in the country, equipped as it was with water massage, whirlpool baths, infrared lamps and a modern gym. Fitting this age of technology, the hospital added research activities to its mandate in the early 1960s. By 1972, this arrangement was formalized in the creation of The Queen Elizabeth Hospital Research Institute.
Today, the Complex Continuing Care Program continues to be actively involved in research. Researchers are collaborating on the OHA's Hospital Report Card Project. The project involves developing a balanced score card for complex continuing care that measures patient outcomes, patient perspectives, even how well hospitals are doing at providing these services.
The Queen Elizabeth Hospital amalgamated with Hillcrest and Lyndhurst Hospitals, and the Toronto Rehabilitation Centre, to create Toronto Rehab in 1998. On April 10, 2008, the centre was renamed the E.W Bickle Centre for Complex Continuing Care.