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Back to SearchOTTAWA (ONTARIO) — Today, CHEO marked the opening of new treatment areas that will increase capacity for the mental health inpatient care unit, which provides crisis stabilization and assessment for children and youth at an extremely vulnerable time in their lives. With the demand for mental health care at CHEO surging for years, the four new single rooms will increase capacity by an estimated 20%.
“Addressing the mental health crisis in our youth requires us to have the capacity and tools to do so,” says Joanne Lowe, CHEO’s Vice-President, Mental Health and Addictions. “This new space will not only allow us to care for more young patients, but also provide them and their families with the right space and conditions to care for them.”
The newly opened spaces include:
- four additional safety-focused single rooms to provide critical care for youth;
- a meeting room, dining room and kitchen, which provides the spaces for family members to connect and spend time with their child or youth, a place for group activities and a classroom space with our education partner;
- a Snoezelen (or sensory) room that provides a calming environment;
- safety pods to allow young patients to calm down safely;
- a second nursing station for the now 19-bed unit.
The $1.5 million project was fully funded by donors who contributed to CHEO Foundation
“In recent years, rising demands for mental health services meant that CHEO needed to respond quickly, and this is a perfect example of how community support can help CHEO answer the call,” said Steve Read, President and CEO, CHEO Foundation. “This new space is a tremendous improvement for the children, youth and families CHEO serves and it enables staff to provide the high standard of care they are trained to deliver. I want to take this time to offer special thanks to the Weston Family Foundation for their generous gift toward this important project.”
Further renovations are underway to expand the Emergency Department and ensure a safe space for patients in distress or in need of immediate mental health care.
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Media contact
media@cheo.on.ca
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. Named Canada’s best health-care employer by Forbes in 2024 and 2025, 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.