The Toronto Rehabilitation Institute was created by the amalgamation of the Rehabilitation Institute of Toronto, the Toronto Rehabilitation Centre and Lyndhurst Hospital in 1998.
The Toronto Rehabilitation Centre was founded in 1922 to meet the rehabilitation needs of Canadians wounded in the First World War. It was the first free-standing rehab facility in North America and later became home to the first outpatient cardiac program in Ontario. In 1997, the Rehabilitation Institute of Toronto was created by the merger of the Queen Elizabeth and Hillcrest hospitals—the Queen Elizabeth Hospital first opened as a chronic and long-term care facility in 1874, while Hillcrest Hospital first began operations in 1886, providing long-term care and gradually adding services such as occupational therapy. Lyndhurst Hospital opened in 1945 to provide rehabilitation services for Second World War veterans who had suffered spinal cord injuries. It was the first rehab hospital of its kind in North America and soon became internationally renowned.
In 2011, Toronto Rehab integrated with University Health Network, to become our fourth hospital and tenth program.
