The UHN Library and Information Services began as separate libraries:
In 1986, the Toronto Western Hospital merged with The Toronto General Hospital becoming, respectively, the Toronto Western Division and the Toronto General Division of The Toronto Hospital. On January 1, 1998, the amalgamation of The Toronto Hospital with the Ontario Cancer Institute/Princess Margaret Hospital came into effect.
Many hospitals were involved in the orchestration of Toronto Rehabilitation Institute. In 1874 the Queen Elizabeth Hospital opened, followed by the creation of Hillcrest Hospital in 1886. The Toronto Rehabilitation Centre was added in 1922 and Lyndhurst Hospital opened in 1945. In 1997 the Rehabilitation Institute of Toronto was created by the merger of the Queen Elizabeth and Hillcrest Hospitals. In 1998, TRI was formed by joining Toronto Rehabilitation Centre and Lyndhurst Hospital. The Lakeside Long-term Care Centre became Toronto Rehab's newest facility in 2004. In 2007 the Queen Elizabeth hospital was renamed the E.W. Bickle Centre for Complex Continuing Care. The Toronto Rehabilitation Institute was officially integrated with UHN on July 1, 2011.
We are now one hospital with several separate and somewhat unique locations. The RC Laird Library and Fudger Medical Library had already merged back in 1986 becoming the TTH Health Sciences Library. As of April 1, 1998, the OCI Library merged with the others, resulting in a three-branch library system. The Toronto Rehab Libraries joined in 2011 and added four more library sites to the UHN Library and Information Services department. Our history and our founders are, however, not forgotten.
