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May 25, 2026, Ottawa, Ont. – CHEO and Queensway Carleton Hospital (QCH) have joined forces to speed up access to care and address wait-lists for pediatric surgeries.
Through this collaboration, CHEO specialists will perform certain lower-complexity day surgeries at QCH, alongside the hospital’s experienced surgical teams.
This expands CHEO’s regional surgical program to six hospitals across the region, building on the success of the program first launched as a Kids Come First initiative in 2024.QCHwill become the first partner to perform urology surgeries, for which there is a significant waiting list.
"The continued expansion of this program ensures we can provide the same CHEO care families know and trust in more places, and sooner, leading to better health outcomes,” said Dr. Jean‑Philippe Vaccani, Chief of Surgery at CHEO and co‑chair of the Kids Come First Regional Pediatric Surgical Working Group.
“QCH performs more than 10,000 surgeries a year with a skilled and compassionate surgical team that truly cares about their work. The team is very happy to step up and help CHEO tackle the significant pediatric wait times. We all want the children in our community to get the best possible start in life,” said Dr. Andrew Falconer, President and CEO, Queensway Carleton Hospital.
To date, the program has seen more than 850 procedures completed by CHEO surgeons at regional and community hospitals. Continued expansion of the program could increase the number of surgeries by another 1,000, further reducing wait times for the region’s children and youth in a time of limited operating room capacity.
“This program shows what’s possible when we work differently as a system. By partnering with hospitals across the region, we’re using every available resource to reduce wait times and improve access to care for children and youth,” said Vera Etches, President and CEO at CHEO.
Kids Come First is a collaborative that features more than 60 organizations, youth and family partners and nearly 1,100 physicians that connects high-quality care for children and youth in the region to simplify their healthcare journey.
The regional surgical programis a testament to the collaboration of the region’s health-care providers to find innovative solutions to long-time issues such as surgical wait times. By shifting low-risk procedures and working with local hospitals, more children and youth can be seen within clinical windows and bring care closer to home.
About CHEO
Based in Canada’s capital, CHEO is a globally renowned health institution with a mission to provide exceptional care and support to children, youth and their families. Opening our doors in 1974, we offer a full range of specialized pediatric care and services to children from eastern and northern Ontario, western Quebec and Nunavut. Our site is home to a hospital, a children’s treatment centre, a school, a research institute, and is affiliated with the University of Ottawa as an academic health science centre. We are home to more than 6,500 staff, clinicians, scientists and researchers, as well as volunteers – all of whom work together to help children and youth achieve their best lives.
About Queensway Carleton Hospital
As the only acute care hospital in west Ottawa, Queensway Carleton Hospital provides quality care to half of the city’s population every year. QCH’s agility and collaborative culture enable it to respond quickly to the most pressing healthcare challenges facing its vibrant and growing communities through advanced programs that reinvent models of patient care. QCH named atop Canadian hospital by Newsweek magazine and a top employer in Canada by Forbes magazine and Canada’s Top 100 Employees. QCH acknowledges it is located on the traditional and unceded lands of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation.