Women's College Hospital is a unique institution combining a legacy of women's health advances with a new mandate as the first and only independent ambulatory care hospital in Ontario. WCRI is the only Canadian facility offering researchers the opportunity to test women's health-care innovations within a research-driven ambulatory care community.

For many years, Women's College has piloted new services for women and their families and has help disseminate best practices in women's health across the province. Women's College Hospital opened TRIDEC, the first comprehensive teaching program for people with diabetes in Canada in 1971. The first Sexual Assault Treatment Centre opened at Women's in 1984, eventually spawning a province-wide network of hospital-based sexual assault centres in 34 centres across the province.

This vital legacy of piloting and evaluating health services for women and their families continues with a focus on ambulatory care services that can help people maintain their health and live independently. We strive to create a clear evidence-base for all of our programs to ensure that our patients receive the best possible care and to create compelling models that can justify improved health services for women and their families elsewhere.