Hundreds to walk in celebration of new facility

TORONTO, ON (August 18, 2010) - On Sunday August 22, 2010 hundreds of Torontonians will walk nine kilometres in a landmark event celebrating the grand opening of the new Women & Babies Program facility at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre.

Labour of Love: Walk for Women & Babies, presented by Ensure, will bring together the community in a family event that will raise funds for the new, state-of-the-art facility at Sunnybrook. The walk will also celebrate the 30th anniversary of Sunnybrook's Preemie Picnic, which reunites former "grads" from Sunnybrook's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) with the staff who cared for them.

The Labour of Love walk will end in a BBQ celebration and a family-friendly carnival on Sunnybrook grounds, featuring performances by Barney and Markus. Proud event sponsors include Ensure, RBC, UBS, Bassett Media Group, Canadian Family, the Globe and Mail, Astley Gilbert Ltd., Clearspace.ca, HIT entertainment and Kidomo.

Date: Sunday, August 22, 2010
Time: Registration begins at 9 a.m.
Walk begins at 10 a.m.
The carnival begins at 1 p.m.
Start location: 95 Grosvenor St., Toronto
End location: Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, 2075 Bayview Ave., Toronto

All media are invited to attend and photo opportunities will be available.

Sunnybrook's Women & Babies Program was previously located at Women's College Hospital in Toronto. As of Sept. 12, women, mothers and their babies will receive the highest level of care at Sunnybrook's Bayview campus. A leading centre of discovery for innovative research in mother and infant development, the new facility houses the most advanced maternity ward in the country.

About Sunnybrook's Women & Babies Program
From fertility, pregnancy and birth to mature women's health, Sunnybrook's Women & Babies Program is a world leader in teaching, patient care and scientific discovery. Specializing in high-risk pregnancy and critically premature babies, we deliver one in five babies weighing less than three pounds in Ontario.

For more information, including photo opportunities, please contact:
MairiAnna Bachynsky
Communications Advisor
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
416.662.3597