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Back to SearchOn May 14, Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced that hospitals can begin offering scheduled surgeries and procedures, and non-urgent in-person clinical services when they meet the province’s criteria to do so safely.
We are very glad to hear this news.
All areas across CHEO are, and have been, hard at work putting the safety plans in place that will allow us to meet the province’s requirements for resuming some of our services. What Doug Ford’s announcement did is help us to prioritize which teams will move forward with their plans first.
Surgery, Medical Imaging and Ambulatory Care clinics that support surgeries and procedures will be the first areas to restart scheduled, in-person services at CHEO. This will happen gradually and carefully – always with everyone’s safety top of mind.
We will contact you
Our recovery plan has to be approved at both the regional and provincial levels before we can proceed. When we are given the green light from the province, we will start reaching out to schedule appointments, surgeries and procedures.
CHEO’s Child Development and Community services, including our Speech Language Pathologists, Occupational Therapists and Physiotherapists, as well as Board Certified Behaviour Analysts (BCBAs) including those who deliver autism services will also execute their gradual plans to reintroduce services. Our Mental Health team will do the same.
During the slowdown required by COVID-19, our clinicians have offered virtual care for many of our clinical services offered across CHEO, ranging from speech therapy to neurology. We will continue with virtual care whenever it is possible, as encouraged by the province.
In the meantime, surgeries continue to take place at CHEO, as determined by urgent need. Care teams maintain contact with their patients to monitor their conditions and provide virtual care where needed. If the condition of anyone waiting for these procedures and surgeries has changed over this time, we encourage them to contact their family care provider for assessment.
We are here for urgent care
If anyone is in need of urgent care, we encourage them to come to our Emergency Department. It is safe and we are here to care for you. We offer virtual Emergency care services, too.
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.