Coming to CHEO

Whether you are dropping in for an appointment with a physician, making your way to our Emergency Department, or staying with us overnight — we know coming to CHEO can sometimes feel intimidating. In this section you'll find everything you need to know to make your visit a success and as stress-free as possible!

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Parent, caregiver and visitor presence policies

Please review the following information before arriving at CHEO.

Parents and caregivers are important members of the care team. They actively work with us to provide vital health information only they know and give emotional support in the way only a parent or caregiver can.

For infection prevention and safety reasons, we have limits on how many parents, caregivers and visitors can be onsite at one time. We also limit the number at the bedside.

We appreciate your patience and understanding in keeping everyone safe, particularly during the peak viral season.

Allowed number of parents, caregivers and visitors

Last updated: October 5, 2023

Clinic and Surgical Day Unit appointments

ONE parent or caregiver is allowed to accompany children and youth while at CHEO.

Emergency Department visits

ONE parent or caregiver is allowed to accompany children and youth while at CHEO's Emergency Department.

Staying at the hospital (admitted to CHEO's inpatient units)

For children and youth admitted to CHEO's inpatient units

During the day, a maximum of TWO parents or caregivers (from the patient's designated list) are permitted at the bedside at a time.

Overnight, only ONE parent or caregiver (from the patient's designated list) is permitted to remain onsite.

Each patient can have TWO parents or caregivers on their designated list.

Note: caregivers must be 12 years old or older.

Visitors

At this time, no visitors (including siblings under 12) are allowed. Parents and caregivers are not considered visitors because they are a vital part of the care team.

Exceptions to these rules

We recognize that some families (e.g., people with disabilities) require additional support to help the patients, parents or caregivers. If you are coming to Emergency, please discuss your need for an exception upon arrival at CHEO Emergency. If you are staying as an inpatient, please discuss this with your care team.

Who can't enter

Parents and caregivers who do not pass the entrance screening.

It is important to us that your child or youth receives the care they need. If you require an exception to any of our caregiver/visitor policies to ensure that your child/youth can access care, please contact a member of your care team or reach out to CHEO's Patient Experience team (experience@cheo.on.ca or 613-737-7600 ext. 3078).

Self-screening

To make sure we are always putting safety first and minimizing any chance of transmission of infections, we ask anyone who comes to CHEO, to self-screen before/upon entering.

Fill out the self-screening form online ahead of time and follow our signs when you arrive. Greeters will be available at the entrance to help if you have any questions.

Online self-screening form

Where to enter

All children, youth, parents/caregivers and visitors must enter through the Main Entrance unless you are seeking care from our Emergency Department. Other entrances are closed.

Frequently asked questions about coming to CHEO

What is the difference between a parent/caregiver and a visitor

Parent/caregiver: Someone who is over 12 years old and helps a child or youth with activities of daily living – e.g., parent, grandparent, older sibling, legal guardian, etc. A parent/caregiver can be designated by a patient. A parent/caregiver is never considered a visitor because they are a vital part of the care team.

Visitor: Someone who is part of a child's or youth’s family or support network (e.g., sibling, extended family member, friend, etc.) but not a designated parent or caregiver.

Will I be required to wear a face mask while at CHEO?

Yes. Masking is required in all clinical and waiting areas, and in all shared spaces where 1 metre of physical distance cannot be maintained. This is an important part of our peak season protective measures to keep kids, families and our community safe.

Masks are given to all patients, parents, caregivers and visitors at CHEO. Anyone is welcome to wear a personal KN95 or other mask when coming to CHEO, but we will ask you to put the procedural mask we give you on top as we can't quality check everyone's personal mask.

Face masks at CHEO

"What should I expect?" and other frequently asked questions

At CHEO for the day

For an appointment, Emergency Department care, surgery or another procedure

What to bring

Health coverage information

Be sure to bring your:

provincial health coverage - OHIP card for Ontario residents or RAMQ card for Quebec residents
CHEO hospital card (if you have visited CHEO before)
private health insurance information (if you have this coverage)

A parent or legal guardian will have to sign the necessary Ministry of Health consent forms for children and youth under 16 years of age.

Personal Health information

Please bring:

all your medications and supplements (The health-care team will review them, and will want to know the time of the last dose.)
immunization records
details about any known allergies to food or drugs

Items for you

Depending on how long your appointment, test or procedure will be, you may want to bring:

spending money for meals and parking
comfortable clothes
a special toy or stuffed animal

Is it safe to bring personal items?

Yes it is safe to bring personal items for your child's appointment or stay. However we ask that you only bring as few items as possible — only the items you need — and wash or disinfect them before and after to prevent the spread of infection. This is especially important if you are coming for a clinic appointment or to our Emergency Department.

What to expect in the Emergency Department

Visit our Emergency care page to find helpful information on what to expect in CHEO's emergency department.

At CHEO for a longer stay

In one of our inpatient units

What to bring

Health coverage information

Be sure to bring your:

provincial health coverage - OHIP card for Ontario residents or RAMQ card for Quebec residents
CHEO hospital card (if you have visited CHEO before)
private health insurance information (if you have this coverage)

A parent or legal guardian will have to sign the necessary Ministry of Health consent forms for children and youth under 16 years of age.

Personal Health information

Please bring:

all your medications and supplements (The health-care team will review them and some may be used during your stay. We will also want to know the time of the last dose.)
immunization records
details about any known allergies to food or drugs

Items for you

Depending on the length of stay in hospital, you may want to bring:

spending money for meals and parking
clothes, pyjamas and slippers
any special toys or family photos
toiletries

Make sure to mark everything with your name.

CHEO mom and blogger, Chloe Girvan, has written a helpful article on what parents should bring with them for a hospital stay. We encourage you to review it.

Where will your child or youth be staying?

There are eight inpatient units at CHEO, including Neonatal Intensive Care and Pediatric Intensive Care.

Sometimes a child may be moved within a unit, or moved to a different one, usually because of space pressures. You will be notified in advance if this is to happen.

There are no private rooms, however there are single rooms used for isolation purposes. If your child or youth does not need to be isolated, they will share a room with one or two other children or youth.

Who will be caring for my child or youth?

A whole team of professionals will look after your child or youth when you come to CHEO.

Health-care teams in the hospital are grouped as Patient Service Units (PSUs). These groupings include inpatient and outpatient teams so that no matter where your child is in terms of their recovery, they will remain under the same PSU according to their diagnosis. This makes it easier to have continuity in your child or youth's care. The PSU health-care teams are made up of many different professionals including doctors, nurses, social workers and others. Which team members are involved will depend on your child's or family's needs.

How can I check-in on my child or youth?

As a parent and valued member of your child's care team, you can call CHEO any time for updates. The unit where your child is staying can be reached through the hospital switchboard at 613-737-7600, or directly through the unit's phone number.

Shift change is a busy time and outside calls will not be taken between 7:30-8:30am and 7:30-8:30pm. Other than these times, we're happy to take your calls at any time.

Information is always readily available through your child's nurse, who can also help you reach any other of the health-care team members caring for your child.

Updates and information will only be supplied to the parent or legal guardian of a child. We appreciate you letting other family members or friends to check with you, and not the unit, for information. Respecting the privacy of other children, youth and their families is extremely important.

Head to Toe suicide screening questions

To intervene early with children and youth experiencing suicidal thoughts, CHEO has developed the Head to Toe assessment program. It is now standard practice for all children and youth over the age of 12 to be screened for suicide upon being admitted to CHEO.

Learn more about Head to Toe

What activities are available?

Child life: Child Life specialists help children to learn, to play and do creative projects while in hospital. Child Life specialists are also trained in medical play, which help children understand their illness and navigate any anxious feelings they may have relating to it.
Activity rooms: there are activity rooms for children on the fourth, fifth and sixth floors where Child Life specialists and special volunteers are available to provide play and learning materials and supervise activities. The hours of the activity rooms are posted on each activity room's door.
Schooling: teachers affiliated with the Ottawa school system are available in the hospital, providing continued schooling to children and youth here for longer stays. Your health-care team will make these arrangements with you and your child or youth.

No matter how long you're at CHEO, here are other things to keep in mind:

Allergy alert!

Some of our children, youth and staff have severe allergies, so please remember:

do not bring nuts, nut products or latex products (like balloons)
avoid using scented products like perfume, cologne, aftershave, body sprays or hair care products
shop wisely at CHEO by checking ingredients and asking questions, as you would elsewhere

Preventing the spread of infection

CHEO is a safe place for kids, caregivers and staff. We have an infection control and prevention team who makes sure CHEO upholds infection prevention and control standards and practices in accordance with current provincially and/or federally legislated requirements, and/or currently accepted professional guidelines and recommendations. This includes:

carefully screening everyone when they come to CHEO
adapting our parent/caregiver presence policy when required to minimize the number of people onsite
providing everyone with a face mask to wear when at CHEO. Visit our Face masks at CHEO page for more information.

And here's how you can help:

parents, caregivers and visitors should stay at home if sick (e.g. you have a fever, cough, runny nose, sore throat, diarrhea, a new rash or are feeling ill)
visit our Face masks at CHEO page for latest information on masking when you're at CHEO.
clean your hands often with soap and water or alcohol-based hand gel (i.e. you must wash with soap and water if you can see dirt or if there is mucous on your hands)

Searching for restricted items

There are times when we need to check patients for things that could cause harm to themselves or others. We do this when we feel a search is needed to keep everyone at CHEO safe. Restricted items can be any personal belonging that could harm a patient or someone else. Learn more about a restricted items search.

Service and emotional support animals

At CHEO, service animals are allowed and, in some instances, emotional-support animals may be able to accompany people to their appointments. If you are a child, youth, caregiver or visitor and have an emotional-support animal that you would like to accompany you to your appointment, please consult with your clinical team before the appointment to confirm whether accommodations can be made for the support animal to visit.

More information on service animals at CHEO

Service animals are allowed onsite. If it is not visibly apparent that the service animal is required for a disability then you, as the animal’s owner, may be asked to provide documentation from a registered health-care professional indicating that the animal is required in relation to a disability. There are areas of the hospital where the service animals may not be permitted (including but not limited to the following: the Operating Room, PACU, NICU, PICU, X-ray, CT, and food prep areas). If you need to access one of these areas, please speak to your health-care team or Patient Experience prior to your visit to explore alternatives.

More information on emotional support animals at CHEO

Emotional-support animals provide a valuable service, yet they do not qualify as service animals. In some instances your clinical team may be able to accommodate your request to have your emotional-support animal attend your appointment. It is important that you consult your team before your appointment so that you can identify whether your emotional-support animal can accompany you. If approved, please ensure you bring documentation from a registered health-care professional that indicates the need for the support animal.

We want to make each person’s appointment as comfortable as possible and sometimes this prevents support animals from being permitted at CHEO. If your emotional-support Animal is not able to accompany you we will work with you to identify alternative support strategies ahead of your appointment.

Expected behaviour for service and emotional-support animals

Any animal onsite must be fully vaccinated, in good health, and must not pose a threat to people or other animals at CHEO. The owner must be fully responsible for the animal at all times. The animal must be kept on a leash or in a cage while onsite.

Raw food diet carries risks

If the animal consumes a raw food diet they are not able to come onsite due to the risk of foodborne infection to the pet and to household members.

CHEO’s Pet Therapy Program

CHEO offers therapy dog interventions for clients and patients across CHEO. Both the dog and the handler are identified by CHEO-issued ID badges. Please do not touch or engage with a therapy dog.

CHEO is a smoke-free property

Ontario's hospitals are smoke-free zones — including hospital grounds. Provincial Tobacco Control Officers patrol hospital grounds to ensure the province's no-smoking laws are being followed.

Anyone caught smoking on hospital property will be ticketed and could be fined up to $5,000.

To smoke, you must leave hospital property. We also ask that you respect others and don't litter.

Keep in mind:

parking lots are on CHEO property therefore smoking in personal vehicles parked on our lots is also prohibited
using e-cigarettes and vapes are not permitted anywhere on hospital property

If you are ready to quit smoking, the City of Ottawa offers resources to help.