1911
Wellesley Hospital founded as a private, non-profit hospital by Dr. Herbert Bruce at the intersection of Wellesley Street and Homewood Avenue.
1917
Designated a Public Hospital under the Ontario Hospital and Charitable Institutions Act, meaning it can admit non-paying patients and is eligible for government assistance.
1948
Becomes the Wellesley Division of the Toronto General Hospital to better manage its finances; Wellesley by this time had a 280-bed capacity.
1959
Regains independence from Toronto General Hospital.
1973
First off-site clinic opens.
1991
Wellesley focuses its mission on becoming a community-oriented teaching hospital, initiating its Urban Health Initiative in southeast Toronto to improve urban health and well-being; this initiative is unique among Toronto hospitals at the time.
1995
Metropolitan Toronto District Health Council proposes closing Wellesley Hospital, as part of a larger initiative to restructure Toronto hospitals.
1996-1997
Wellesley Hospital merges with Toronto Central Hospital to become Wellesley Central Hospital, then creates a merger alliance with Women’s College Hospital.
1997
Wellesley Central Hospital, by now a 585-bed hospital and major teaching institution, directed to close by Ontario’s Health Services Restructuring Commission.
1998
Wellesley Central Hospital ends operations after “Staying Alive Campaign” to save the hospital is unsuccessful.
1999
Having secured funds through the restructuring process, the hospital sites and the hospital foundations, the Wellesley Central Hospital Board creates the Wellesley Central Health Corporation to focus on “complex population health issues through research, public policy, education and community development.”
2006
Wellesley Central Health Corporation is re-named Wellesley Institute, and evolves from a developer into a think tank.
2018
After occupying rented spaces throughout the city for decades, Wellesley Institute purchases two Victorian-era semi-detached houses on Gerrard Street near Sherbourne Street, a short walk away from the original hospital site, with the intention to renovate them into an office.
2022
Wellesley Institute returns to its geographic roots in its newly renovated location at 201 Gerrard St. E.