Hennick Bridgepoint Hospital, formerly Bridgepoint Active Healthcare, is a complex care and

rehabilitation hospital Rehabilitation hospitals, also referred to as inpatient rehabilitation hospitals, are devoted to the rehabilitation of patients with various neurological, musculoskeletal, orthopedic, and other medical conditions following stabilization of their acu ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

. It is a member of the Sinai Health and affiliated with the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

In October 2021 Sinai Health announced that Bridgepoint Active Healthcare will be renamed Hennick Bridgepoint Hospital in recognition of a transformational $36 million gift from Jay and Barbara Hennick, longtime leaders and supporters of Sinai Health. Jay was the Chair of the Board of Directors of Mount Sinai Hospital and Sinai Health from 2013 to 2016 and Barbara currently sits on the Sinai Health Foundation Board of Directors and was President of the Auxiliary from 2005 to 2007."

Location

The hospital is located next to the

Don River The Don ( rus, Дон, p=don) is the fifth-longest river in Europe. Flowing from Central Russia to the Sea of Azov in Southern Russia, it is one of Russia's largest rivers and played an important role for traders from the Byzantine Empire. Its ...

in the Riverdale neighbourhood of the city and includes the historic

Don Jail The Don Jail was a jail in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located to the east of the Don River, on Gerrard Street East in the Riverdale neighbourhood. The original building was completed in 1864 and was reopened in 2013 to serve as the administrative ...

which is now the administration building for the new hospital. The exact address is 14 St. Matthews Road, Toronto, Ontario at the corner of Broadview Avenue and Gerrard Street. The new building towers over the east side of the

Don Valley Parkway The Don Valley Parkway (DVP) is a municipal expressway in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which connects the Gardiner Expressway in downtown Toronto with Highway 401. North of Highway 401, it continues as Highway 404. The parkway run ...

History

The "House of Refuge" was built on the site in 1860 as a home for "vagrants, the dissolute, and for idiots". The facility became the "Riverdale Isolation Hospital" in 1875 during a smallpox epidemic. It became a specialized facility located on the edge of the city to house patients with

communicable disease An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable dise ...

s, such as

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

. As times changed, in 1957, the hospital's name and mandate were changed; its focus was shifted to helping those with chronic ailments and/or needing rehabilitation, as the Riverdale Hospital. The architecturally distinctive brown brick "half-round" Riverdale Hospital - which become Bridgepoint Health in 2002 - was completed in 1963; was amalgamated structurally into the new Bridgepoint Active Healthcare campus. In 1997 as part of

Mike Harris Michael Deane Harris (born January 23, 1945) is a Canadian retired politician who served as the 22nd premier of Ontario from 1995 to 2002 and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (PC Party) from 1990 to 2002. During his time ...

' cutbacks the government moved to close the original facility, but a community lobbying effort kept it open, and saved the historic Riverdale Hospital building.

Redevelopment

In 2003, a $200 million expansion project was announced, which modernized and expanded the facility. The final result is the purpose-built, 10-storey, 404-bed Bridgepoint Hospital building, which is connected by a glass walkway to the old

building. Part of the former Don Jail was demolished in 2014 as part of the Bridgepoint Redevelopment project. The Community Master Plan was approved by the City of Toronto in 2006. The new facility serves as a 'living lab' to foster the research and treatment of complex chronic disease. It serves as a research base for the Bridgepoint Collaboratory for Research and Innovation. Bridgepoint Active Healthcare and Infrastructure Ontario partnered with Plenary Health to design, build, finance and maintain the new facility for 30 years after completion. Construction started in the fall of 2009, and the facility has been fully operational since April 2013. Patient services moved to the new hospital building on April 14, 2013. The 10-storey hospital building is adjacent to the former Don Jail building (completed in 1864), which now serves as the administrative wing of the hospital. The new building officially opened on June 25, 2013.

References

External links

Official website City zoning approval
{{authority control Hospital buildings completed in 1963 Hospitals in Toronto Public–private partnership projects in Canada Hospitals affiliated with the University of Toronto