On June 13, 1883, Dr. Emily Stowe (1831–1903)[2] the second woman licensed to practice medicine in Canada – led a group of her supporters to a meeting at the Toronto Women's Suffrage Club, stating "that medical education for women is a recognized necessity, and consequently facilities for such instruction should be provided."

The clinic allowed female patients to obtain the services of women doctors in a field dominated by men.

[4][5] A plaque was erected by Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada at the Women's College Hospital, Grenville St., Toronto.

From its beginnings as a small out-patient clinic in 1898 to its development as a modern teaching hospital, the institution symbolizes the struggle of women to claim their place in the medical profession.

[6] Women's College Hospital collaborated in the invention of the simplified Pap test, opened Ontario's first regional Sexual Assault Care Centre and was the first hospital in the province to use mammography as a diagnostic tool to detect breast cancer.

Ambulatory care refers to surgeries, diagnostic procedures and treatments that do not require overnight hospitalization.

WCH received a $500,000 grant from the Public Health Agency of Canada's Immunization Partnership Fund to implement a vaccine education program targeted towards non-physician health care workers in long-term facilities and at-home care services.

He has changed the way international health professionals understand and test for genes associated with breast and ovarian cancer.