Shouldice Hospital (formerly Shouldice Hernia Centre) is a private hospital located in Markham, Ontario, Canada, at 7750 Bayview Avenue in the Thornhill district.^[1] The hospital specializes in hernia care. Its location is the former estate of George McCullagh, a publisher who created The Globe and Mail newspaper in 1936.^[2]

The hospital was founded in 1945 by Dr. Earle Shouldice.^[1][3] While private hospitals are not allowed under Ontario's Private Hospitals Act,^[3] Shouldice Hospital is one of seven private hospitals in the province grandfathered under the Act.^[3] The hospital has been continuously family run from its inception but is partially publicly funded.^[4]

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 CA$188 million, to transform the lands into a public park, while continuing the lease for the hospital.^[5]

Shouldice Hospital is a private hospital that operates in a public health care system.^[6] It works solely on hernia repair.^[1] 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.^{[7][better source needed]}

Everything in the hospital is designed toward hernia repair.^[1] Shouldice's rooms do not have telephones or televisions, which it says is to encourage patients to walk around while recovering.^[1] The hospital is laid out like a "country club."^[8] According to the hospital, it has the lowest rate of complications and recurrences of hernias in the world.^[3] The success of its method has been cited to the fact that Shouldice surgeons solely do hernia operations.^[9]

The facility was the subject of a 1983 business case by the Harvard Business School.^[1] Written by James Heskett, the report is the school's fourth-best-selling business case, selling over 259,000 copies.^[1] The case study focuses on Shouldice's unique three-day hernia repair process.^[1] The popularity of the business case is responsible for the hospital's process becoming known outside of Canada.^[1]