News

Joint statement on COVID-19 testing from The Ottawa Hospital, CHEO and Ottawa Public Health

OTTAWA—There have been record-setting volumes at the Brewer Assessment Centre in recent days.

We knew that with kids returning to school we would see these volumes. To prepare, we have tripled staffing in the last month for testing children and youth at the centre. More are being trained and still more are being hired.

Additional staff are being trained to extend hours of operation at the Brewer Assessment Centre by 4 hours/day, to 12 hours of operation 7 days/week. The hours for the drive-through...

Kids Comes First Health Team offers virtual backpack with back-to-school resources

Sep. 11, 2020 — OTTAWA — The Kids Come First Health Team is coming together to support kids, parents, school boards, teachers and other health-care professionals with their questions and concerns about returning to school during COVID-19. These resources are now in a single location to make it easy for everyone to find the information they need. 

Back-to-school season is always an anxious time, but this year is having a particularly profound effect on families. Over the summer, the Kids Come...

Sounding the alarm on Ontario children’s health care crisis

Wait times and delayed care identified as urgent issues;
coalition of Ontario pediatric health care providers to host town hall September 17

TORONTO, 10 September 2020 /CNW/ - Ontario children are victims of a health care crisis that the COVID-19 pandemic is only making worse. For some, it’s a matter of life and death. Parents across the country are already witnessing the repercussions of the pandemic on our children’s mental health,...

Canadians agree: children must be a priority for national COVID-19 recovery plan

Recent data from an Abacus Poll commissioned by Children’s Healthcare Canada (CHC) reveals the vast majority of Canadians are deeply worried about the future of our country’s children and youth. Of those polled, fully 92% believe children should be a priority as the Canadian government develops its COVID19 recovery plan, and beyond, with 70% of respondents expecting the pandemic to have long-term effects on children. 

The findings indicate a striking and widespread concern, with Canadians seeing...

CHEO introduces new services to support children & youth with autism to build essential life skills

Learning to socialize and dealing with sleep issues most concerning, according to families

Ottawa — August 24, 2020 — The COVID-19 pandemic affects us all, but unlike adults, children’s social and health needs impact their growth and development,  requiring flexibility from the health-care system. Children and youth with autism need extra support during these trying times.  To meet this need, and based on family feedback, CHEO has launched new social skills groups and sleep support services.