Unity Health Toronto

03/20/2026

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐃𝐫. 𝐋𝐞𝐞 𝐄𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐌𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐎𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐝𝐚.

Dr. Errett, a renowned cardiac surgeon at St. Michael’s Hospital for more than 30 years, is internationally recognized as a leader in cardiac surgery, research, and education. His vision and expertise helped make St. Michael’s a world class centre for cardiac care.

As founding president of the Bethune Medical Development Association, he also volunteers his time and expertise to providing care in underserved areas worldwide.

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Errett on this well deserved recognition.

03/18/2026

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐒𝐭. 𝐌𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐞𝐥’𝐬 𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 ‘𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞’ 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭

When Ben Finlan arrived at St. Michael’s Hospital following a traumatic brain injury, he had no idea what the path to healing was going to look like. What followed was years of complex, coordinated care involving dozens of teams across the hospital.

Ben and his partner Katherine Smith sat down with us to talk about their journey, the relationships they’ve built with their care team, and why they are so passionate about advocating for patients and caregivers.

Ben’s story is a powerful reminder of what’s possible when expertise, compassion and perseverance come together. We’ll be sharing this three-part series over the next few days.

Read Part 1 of Ben’s journey:
https://unityhealth.to/2026/03/four-years-and-66-surgeries/?&utm_source=FB&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=260318-finlan

03/17/2026

Paddle Royale in support of heart health and St. Michaels Hospital is being held on March 28.Subscribe to CP24 to watch more videos: https://www.youtube.com/...

03/12/2026

Dr. Dalia Rotstein is a Unity Health Toronto neurologist and clinician-researcher working to improve the treatment and care of pregnant women and new mothers.

According to Rotstein, certain rare neurological conditions predominantly affect women – and they often start just as they're beginning their families and building their careers.

Dr. Rotstein is the lead author on a paper published in the Lancet Neurology exploring the safety of medications used during pregnancy and breastfeeding to treat rare autoimmune neurological diseases.

Click the link to learn more about her work: https://unityhealth.to/2026/03/meet-the-neurologist-dedicated-to-improving-care-for-women-during-pregnancy/?&utm_source=FB&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=260312-rotstein

03/11/2026

Last week, we were pleased to welcome a delegation from SingHealth, one of Singapore’s leading health systems, to St. Michael’s Hospital.

Their visit was an opportunity to exchange knowledge on how we’re advancing digital innovation. We shared learnings from the launch of Unity Health’s new Epic electronic medical record, on innovations in nursing, on our in-house AI development and implementation team and on our evolving health data platforms.

A huge thank you to our Unity Health teams for showcasing their cutting edge work, and to the SingHealth delegation for joining us in this meaningful exchange.

03/10/2026

Unity Health Toronto is excited to be the first hospital in Ontario to launch automated, unit-level blood inventory data sharing with Canadian Blood Services.

Unity Health’s Laboratory Medicine and Digital teams are leveraging existing technology to securely share daily inventory data to eliminate manual uploading and create better visibility across the health care system.

This partnership supports planning for a consistent blood supply, especially during shortages, and reduces the administrative burden for lab teams. It’s a great example of cross-organizational collaboration for the benefit of patient care.

This initiative, launched in early 2026, represents more than a technical milestone. It reflects what’s possible when health care partners work together to improve system coordination and reliability.

We’re proud to help inform a broader provincial frame work that will support onboarding additional hospitals in the future.

03/09/2026

New research at St. Michael’s shows a doubling of new prescriptions for ADHD medications among adults since start of COVID-19 pandemic.

Is it overprescribing or a new surge in awareness of this condition?

Researchers Dr. Tara Gomes and Dr. Mina Tadrous share more insight into why this is important in their latest paper in CMAJ.

Click the link to learn more: https://unityhealth.to/2026/03/adhd-prescriptions-doubled-since-start-of-covid-19-pandemic/?&utm_source=FB&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=260309-adhd

03/09/2026

Urgent action is needed to strengthen global blood-system readiness, according to a commentary published in the Lancet co-authored by Dr. Andrew Beckett, trauma surgeon and scientist at St. Michael’s Hospital and Lieutenant-Colonel in The Canadian Armed Forces.

Beckett and co-authors from The NATO Blood Panel, who met in February in Brussels, warn that future emergency situations could push military and civilian blood services to capacity.
The panel recommends preparing for demand for whole blood and dried plasma, strengthening supply chains and surge capacity, investing in universal blood products and donor pool expansion, and continuing to build civilian-military partnerships.

St. Michael’s Hospital was the site of Canada’s first blood transfusion, and carries on that legacy by driving forward research in the areas of trauma and resuscitation, including the study of whole blood, dried plasma, and pre-hospital transfusion.

Click the link to read the full article in The Lancet: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(26)00322-3/fulltext

03/05/2026

Thank you to Karim Bardeesy, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry and MP for Taiaiako'n–Parkdale–High Park, for visiting St. Michael’s Hospital, part of Unity Health Toronto.

We were proud to showcase innovation in action — including GEMINI and VITAL, data platforms transforming health data to advance care, research, and responsible AI; and ASIST TBI, our AI tool that rapidly analyzes head CTs to flag urgent neurosurgical needs.

The visit also included a tour of our expanded Emergency Department, opening this spring, and a look at our world-class emergency and trauma care.

Our exceptional teams are driving impact every day - improving care, advancing innovation, and building the healthcare system of tomorrow.

03/03/2026

This transformational gift from the Slaight Family Foundation will help establish a new program aimed at tackling homelessness in our city.

“If we’re going to invest more funds, we need to invest them in long-term solutions, not in short-term Band-Aids," said Dr. Stephen Hwang, director of the MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions at St. Michael’s Hospital, in an interview with The Canadian Press.

"That’s why this ($25 million) gift is so wonderful because it’s doing both of those things. It’s addressing urgent needs but it’s also creating long-term solutions."

Thank you to The Slaight Family Foundation for their transformational $25 million gift to St. Michael’s Hospital’s MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions and United Way Greater Toronto.

At a time when thousands in our city are experiencing homelessness and its devastating impacts on health, this catalytic investment comes at a critical moment.

Together, with our partners, we will launch the Slaight Family Housing Lab—helping people move from homelessness into stable housing through United Way’s unparalleled network of community services, and creating a model for lasting success and impact based on MAP’s decades of proven research and expertise on homelessness, housing and health.

This groundbreaking partnership marks a new era of collaboration, uniting healthcare, housing, and social services to tackle one of Toronto’s most urgent crises.

Read more: https://stmichaelsfoundation.com/our-stories/a-transformational-25-million-gift

Unity Health Toronto Covenant House Toronto Dixon Hall Fred Victor Neighbourhood Group LOFT Community Services Na-Me-Res (Native Men's Residence) Wigwamen Incorporated

02/26/2026

Thank you to the delegation of five UK supercomputing centres for visiting St. Michael’s Hospital yesterday to learn about our health data platforms and AI development. It was a great opportunity to share knowledge, experiences and the positive impact that health AI is making for patients:

✅ Dr. Amol Verma and Nicole Yada showcased GEMINI, a hospital data system that is driving improvements and innovation to clinical care in Ontario, and VITAL, the next-gen hospital data platform that will expand across Canada.
✅ Mike Page and Derek Beaton presented on Unity Health’s in-house AI team, how we’ve learned and grown over the past 10 years and how we develop our AI tools.
✅ Dr. Verma demonstrated CHARTWatch, an AI tool that saves lives by predicting unplanned ICU transfers and deaths, and Drs. Alun Ackery and Christopher Witiw showed ASIST-TBI, an algorithm that predicts if patients will require neurosurgery after a traumatic brain injury.

Learn more: https://unityhealth.to/about-unity-health/ai-at-unity-health/

02/26/2026

Every month, staff, researchers, physicians, learners and teams across Unity Health Toronto celebrate important honours, achievements and awards. Congratulations to all who’ve been recognized in February!

Read more: https://unityhealth.to/2026/02/february-2026-honour-roll/?&utm_source=FB&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=260226-honour-roll

02/25/2026

We’re proud to share that Unity Health Toronto hospitals are among the best in Canada, according to Newsweek Magazine’s World’s Best Hospitals 2026 list.

So, we asked the people who work here: What makes Unity Health so exceptional?

Here’s what they told us…

02/25/2026

We’re excited to share that Unity Health Toronto hospitals are among the best in Canada, according to Newsweek Magazine’s World’s Best Hospitals 2026 list.

The annual rankings recognize leading hospitals worldwide, as well as the top organizations per country, and this is the 7th straight year St. Michael’s has landed in the top 10 in Canada.

“The commitment of our clinicians, researchers and staff to excellence, innovation, and system partnership – with our mission and values at our core – is what got us here. As we celebrate this moment, we’re also looking to the future and reaffirming our dedication to high quality care for all,” says Altaf Stationwala, President and CEO.

St. Michael’s ranked 6th in Canada and St. Joseph’s placed among the top 10 community teaching hospitals in Ontario. Providence, one of Ontario’s largest post-acute hospitals, was not on the list as Newsweek doesn’t include specialized rehabilitation in these rankings.

Click the link to learn more: https://unityhealth.to/2026/02/unity-health-toronto-hospitals-among-canadas-best/?&utm_source=FB&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=260225-Newsweek

02/24/2026

The research unit in the Department of Ophthalmology at St. Michael’s Hospital has successfully deployed an innovative new technology that could improve our understanding of vision-threatening retinal vascular diseases like diabetic retinopathy.

Developed in Canada, the Zilia Ocular camera is a non-invasive retinal imaging device that takes detailed images of the retina and uses advanced light technology and AI to measure oxygen levels directly in retinal tissue. Most existing tools only look at eye structure or blood flow while the Zilia Ocular camera gives insight on how well oxygen is reaching and being used by the eye tissue.

Following Health Canada approval, St. Michael’s is the first in Canada to deploy this camera.

Dr. David Wong, a vitreoretinal surgeon at St. Michael’s Hospital, is leading a study examining how non-invasive retinal oxygen measurements like this ocular camera can enhance our understanding and management of vision-threatening conditions.

“Current imaging tells us where blood is flowing, but oxygenation may give us a clearer picture of which retinal areas are healthy, at risk, or beyond recovery,” said Dr. Wong.

“This study aims to help refine how we assess disease severity and treatment response.”

02/24/2026

Chris Moise, City Councillor for Toronto Centre, visited St. Michael’s Hospital yesterday for a behind-the-scenes tour of our new, soon-to-open, ambulatory area of the Emergency Department in the new Shuter Wing.

During the visit, Councillor Moise also toured several critical areas across the hospital — including our helipad and Intensive Care Units (ICU) — to see how these interconnected spaces support timely, life-saving care for patients across Toronto and beyond.

We’re grateful for Councillor Moise’s continued support of St. Michael’s.

02/24/2026

We’re proud to share that Unity Health Toronto is one of Canada’s Best Diversity Employers for the second year in a row.

This recognition celebrates our ongoing commitment to addressing racism and discrimination and to building a workplace where diversity and inclusion are embedded in everything we do.

“What began as a focused equity and inclusion effort in 2020 has become an integral part of Unity Health’s culture.” said Allison Needham, Director of Anti-Racism, Equity and Social Accountability at Unity Health Toronto. “While there is still important work ahead, the progress we’ve made reflects shared commitment and accountability from across the organization.”

Click the link to learn more: https://unityhealth.to/2026/02/unity-health-named-one-of-canadas-best-diversity-employers/?&utm_source=FB&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=260224-best-diversity-employer

02/23/2026

We are pleased to welcome a delegation of physicians and lawyers from Japan who are here in Toronto to meet the St. Michael’s Hospital’s Family Health Team.

During their visit, the delegation will hear from Unity Health’s experts who are working to address social issues in health, and will hear about the Health Justice partnership.

The delegation includes leaders in poverty law and social medicine, and we are excited to hear about their expertise and introduce them to partners and allies across Toronto.

02/23/2026

Drs. Greg German and Steffanie Strathdee are bringing their research expertise and lived experience to the forefront in their work to combat antibiotic-resistant infections. And they are using viruses, called bacteriophages, to do it.

Bacteriophages could have a meaningful impact not just on human health, but many other fields including veterinary medicine, agriculture, aquaculture mining, and even prophylactic uses to prevent infection outbreaks in wartime or environmental disasters.

Click the link to learn more about their work to bring phage therapy into the standard suite of treatment options for patients who have run out of other options.
https://unityhealth.to/2026/02/meet-the-researchers-using-viruses-to-treat-patients/?&utm_source=FB&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=260223-phage-therapy