Shouldice Hernia Centre

The hospital was founded in 1945 by Dr. Earle Shouldice. While private hospitals are not allowed under Ontario's Private Hospitals Act,{{cite news |last=Hauch |first=Valerie |date=September 23, 2012 |title=Shouldice hernia centre likely to move in four years |url= https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2012/09/23/shouldice_hernia_centre_likely_to_move_in_four_years.html|newspaper= The Toronto Star|accessdate= June 20, 2014}} Shouldice Hospital is one of seven private hospitals in the province grandfathered under the Act. The hospital has been continuously family run from its inception but is partially publicly funded.{{Cite web|url=https://albertapolitics.ca/2019/01/everything-you-always-wanted-to-know-about-rand-paul-and-the-shouldice-hernia-hospital-but-were-afraid-to-ask/|title = Everything you always wanted to know about Rand Paul and the Shouldice Hernia Hospital * but were afraid to ask|date = 15 January 2019}}

In the 2020s, Liberty Development planned to build five residential towers on the property. In September 2022, the City of Markham purchased the Shouldice property for {{CAD|188}} million, to transform the lands into a public park, while continuing the lease for the hospital.{{cite news |work=Markham Economist & Sun |url=https://www.yorkregion.com/news-story/10709980-city-of-markham-spends-188m-to-purchase-shouldice-hospital-lands-in-thornhill-for-public-use/ |title=City of Markham spends $188M to purchase Shouldice Hospital lands in Thornhill for public use |first=Irene |last=Wong |date=September 12, 2022 |accessdate=March 19, 2023}}

Shouldice Hospital is a private hospital that operates in a public health care system.{{cite web |author1=Gordon Pitts |title=Hernia hospital teaches Harvard about service |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/hernia-hospital-teaches-harvard-about-service/article701286/|website=The Globe and Mail |accessdate=16 January 2019 |date=April 23, 2018}} It works solely on hernia repair. It uses a natural tissue, tension free, technique developed during World War II by Dr. Shouldice. The hospital performs hernia repairs on over 6,500 patients a year.{{cite web |title=Welcome to Shouldice Hernia Hospital, The Global Leader in Non-Mesh Hernia Repair |url=https://www.shouldice.com/ |website=Shouldice Hospital |publisher=Shouldice Hospital |accessdate=July 2, 2019 |quote=...every year over 6,500 patients trust Shouldice Hospital to repair their abdominal wall hernia.}}{{better source |date=July 2019|reason=Although this is the only source I could locate for this previously unsourced statement, it's not an independent source; it's the hospital itself}}

Everything in the hospital is designed toward hernia repair. Shouldice's rooms do not have telephones or televisions, which it says is to encourage patients to walk around while recovering. The hospital is laid out like a "country club."{{Cite web|title = A blueprint for our health-care system|url = http://chealth.canoe.com/channel_health_news_details.asp?news_id=19728&channel_id=8|website = Canoe|access-date = 2016-01-25|publisher = Sun Media|last = Worthington|first = Peter|date = 2007-01-17|url-status = dead|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160202051611/http://chealth.canoe.com/channel_health_news_details.asp?news_id=19728&channel_id=8|archive-date = 2016-02-02}} According to the hospital, it has the lowest rate of complications and recurrences of hernias in the world. The success of its method has been cited to the fact that Shouldice surgeons solely do hernia operations.{{Cite news|title = No Mistake|url = http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1998/03/30/no-mistake|newspaper = The New Yorker|date = 1998-03-30|access-date = 2016-01-25|issn = 0028-792X|first = Atul|last = Gawande}}

Notable patients at the hospital have included U.S. politician Rand Paul, former Canadian prime minister Joe Clark, former leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) Jack Layton and consumer advocate Ralph Nader.{{Cite news|title = It's a world-renowned, for-profit Ontario hospital. Could Shouldice be a model for private health care?|url = https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/healthcare-profit-shouldice-1.6571393|website = CBC.ca|date = 2022-09-22|access-date = 2024-05-22|first = Mark|last = Gollom}}

The facility was the subject of a 1983 business case by the Harvard Business School. Written by James Heskett, the report is the school's fourth-best-selling business case, selling over 259,000 copies. The case study focuses on Shouldice's unique three-day hernia repair process. The popularity of the business case is responsible for the hospital's process becoming known outside of Canada.

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• {{official|shouldice.com}}

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Category:Hospitals in the Regional Municipality of York

Category:Hospitals established in 1945

Category:Buildings and structures in Markham, Ontario