Margaret Birch celebrated with anniversary and birthday parties

Rouge Valley Health System Foundation was thrilled to celebrate two very special occasions, the 25th Anniversary of the Margaret Birch Wing and the 90th Birthday of Mrs. Margaret Birch, in the presence of The Honourable David C. Onley, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, on Thursday, June 23.

A devoted MPP for Scarborough East for 13 years, Margaret Birch had the distinction of becoming the first woman appointed to the Ontario Cabinet. A dedicated volunteer leader in the community, she was instrumental in finding the land for what is now Rouge Valley Centenary and seeing the hospital open to serve the rapidly growing populations of east Scarborough and Durham in 1967. When Centenary needed to expand, a new wing was built and in honour of Mrs. Birch’s service to the hospital and the community, the Centenary Board named this new facility the Margaret Birch Wing when it opened in June of 1986.

The hospital’s first expansion, the Margaret Birch Wing originally housed Continuing Care and Rehabilitation, a new Emergency Department, a new Intensive Care Unit and Coronary Care Unit and upgrades to Diagnostic Imaging. In the intervening years, the wing has added 2 catheterization labs (including the province’s first stand-alone angioplasty suite), an MRI machine, breast imaging centre, and laboratory space.

The 25th anniversary celebrations were held in the Margaret Birch Wing lobby of Rouge Valley Centenary, and many special guests attended to help mark the milestone events. The formal programme concluded with the unfurling of a 25th anniversary banner at the entrance to the wing and the cutting of a birthday cake. A strawberry social was held on the grounds after the official programme is completed.

To view photos from this event, please visit

Official Celebrations - gallery 1
Official Celebrations - gallery 2

Birthday Cocktail Party