1door4care

Too many doors means too little care. So let’s simplify.

Some of the most vulnerable children in Eastern Ontario face a fractured delivery model of essential health services. Every extra door for care adds to the burden on already overburdened families today. We can change that.

The solution starts with a single door.

Why #1door4care?

CHEO’s clinical services for children and youth with special needs are currently spread across numerous locations in the region.

This fractured delivery model is simply not meeting the needs of 40,000 families in Eastern Ontario who use CHEO’s developmental, rehabilitation, behavioural and mental health services. It’s a model that tells these families their experiences don’t matter.

We want to bring seven locations under one roof — to create a single door for better access and care. The facilities at these seven locations are outdated, in poor condition and not suitable for the delivery of care and services required by these vulnerable children and youth.

What are the benefits of the new building?

reducing wait times and combining visits to reduce the stress and burden on families
customizing space for children with special needs to optimize their mobility and safety
providing bright, welcoming spaces that foster healing for children and youth with mental illness
increasing service capacity
consolidating and connecting clinical services under one roof
improving comfort, convenience, privacy, safety and accessibility through intelligent, purpose-built design
providing significant cost savings from fewer leasing agreements and reduced rental costs — money that can be redirected to frontline care.

What services are going to be moved into the building?

This building will bring together most CHEO services funded by the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services in a hub next to the main campus building, where most services are funded by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. While different programs may be under different funding silos, families’ lives aren’t organized that way. Bringing services together is about making life easier and services better for those families. The hub will include:

mental health services
autism services
rehabilitation services including occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech language pathology and social work
blind-low vision program
respite services for children and youth with autism
seating and mobility
creating this hub will also allow community organizations to be on site, offering additional support to kids and families

What sites are not going to be moved into the building?

The Kanata, Renfrew and Cornwall sites, as well as the Social Pediatric Hub in Vanier will not move.

There is a push to provide more services in the community. Doesn’t this go against that?

We are committed to extending our reach and care in the community through programs like the Vanier Social Pediatric Hub, which runs out of the Vanier Community Service Centre, and Project Echo, which provides training in mental health care to primary care providers. We are also hoping to be part of the new Orleans Health Hub.

If families have to drive all the way to CHEO to receive support, how will CHEO accommodate families travelling from out-of-town?

This change means that people will have fewer locations to travel to and can consolidate appointments, ideally resulting in fewer trips.

We are not closing any service locations that are more than a 10-minute drive from the main CHEO campus.

Will I have to pay for parking now?

A top priority for this building is fully accessible, family-friendly parking. We will work closely with parents and the Ministry to ensure that parking is not an additional barrier to accessing services.

Will CHEO acknowledge that the building is to be built on un-ceded First Nation’s territory?

Yes.

What is happening with the school? Is it going to increase in numbers, will it go up to a higher grade level?

CHEO Preschool is a half day licensed program for children two to five years of age and will continue to provide a learning environment from a specialized early childhood education program in a small group setting with integrated OT, PT and speech language pathology services. We hope to expand this program.

CHEO School will continue to provide full day educational instruction in both English and French for 30 students for junior and senior Kindergarten, with the goal of expanding this to grade 3 with a primary diagnosis of physical disability, and associated complex communication, developmental, and/or learning disability.