CHEO opens first pediatric Eating Disorders Partial Hospitalization Program in Canada

Ottawa, ON. — Eating disorders are prevalent and represent an increasingly worrisome trend with a 60% rise from pre-pandemic levels. Treating eating disorders can be complex and requires a multidisciplinary approach involving medical, nutritional, and psychological interventions.  

In response to the growing demand for mental health services, specifically with eating disorders programs and services, CHEO is introducing an innovative new clinical care program model — the first of its kind in a pediatric health-care setting in Canada — to better respond to this pressing need.   

The new CHEO Eating Disorder Partial Hospitalization Program welcomes 12 patients with moderate to severe eating disorders daily, seven days a week, 12 hours a day and allows the patient to return home in the evening. This new model adds a total of 1,460 additional treatment days per year and improves capacity to treat an additional 220 children and youth. 

“CHEO’s partial hospitalization program has all the elements of an in-patient program, except the patients sleep at home at night,” says Dr. Leanna Isserlin, CHEO's Medical Co-Director of the Child and Adolescent Eating Disorders Program. “It maximizes the efficiency and flow to serve more patients and works to improve individual outcomes, while keeping kids connected to their homes, schools, families and communities, which is essential for their resiliency.”

Early intervention and support can make a huge difference both in terms of the individual’s overall outcome and as far as the cost of long-term health care. By providing appropriate care and support at an early stage of illness, CHEO is working to help more young people cope better with mental health challenges and improve their overall health and well-being. 

“This new program is the result of strategic investment by the provincial government, recognizing the growing need in mental health,” says Dr. Isserlin. “For decades, we were in status quo with six inpatient beds and outpatient services, while both the population and prevalence of eating disorders grew. With these investments, we are able to right-size the pediatric care our children and youth need.” 

CHEO offers a comprehensive eating disorders program, including outpatient, inpatient, partial hospitalization, leading-edge research and partnership with community providers. 

“There is an incredible need to tailor treatment and services for each stage of an eating disorder,” said Dr. Nicole Obeid, Scientist at the CHEO Research Institute and lead of the Eating Disorder Research Lab. “Through our research, we are looking to understand risk and protective factors of eating disorders. To suggest prevention efforts that can help get ahead of the problem, we are studying eating disorders at the biological level to better tailor treatment from the get-go. And we are investigating system-level research, including scaling up early intervention eating disorder programs in integrated community settings across Canada, to help understand how best to serve young people with eating disorders wherever they are in their journey. It’s about getting the right care, at the right time, in the right space for these youth and research helps drive that.”   

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