Tiny Lives, Mighty Care

An exclusive look inside The Hospital for Sick Children, the world's top pediatric hospital

- by KATHERINE FUNG

IT'S A THURSDAY IN TORONTO, and the downpour is relentless. Squall warnings flash across the weather apps. Pedestrians cloaked in rain gear are running for cover.

But on Elizabeth Street, a ray of light shines.

Welcome to the Hospital for Sick Children, more popularly known as SickKids, and most recently recognized as the top pediatric hospital in the world.

For the third time since Newsweek began publishing its ranking of World's Best Specialized Hospitals for pediatrics, SickKids was recognized as the No. 1 children's hospital—reclaiming the title after three years as runner-up. The Toronto hospital topped the list in 2021 and 2022.

Since becoming Canada's first children's hospital in 1875, SickKids has emerged as the country's most research-intensive hospital and falls among the top three in the world. The hospital has spent the last 150 years making major scientific breakthroughs, including the discoveries of cancer stem cells and the genetic cause of cystic fibrosis.

Today, SickKids performs more than half the pediatric transplants in Canada, including 75 percent of the nation’s liver transplants, 60 percent of heart transplants and more than 50 percent of bone marrow transplants.

There are more than three dozen clinical departments at SickKids, but they all work toward a common approach—“Precision Child Health.” Cohn describes Precision Child Health as taking every data point “from the genetic code to the postal and ZIP code” to understand why each individual child is sick.

Manifesting Success

During an early September tour of the facilities, the hospital's soft-spoken leader disappears into the background. Cohn listens intently, chiming in every so often to throw softball questions that set his team up to shine.