The logos of the organizations that make up the Children's Health
Coalition line the top of the image. The blue icons and corresponding text
highlight only some of the improvements members of the coalition have made
within their organizations in the year since the historic funding was
announced.
Just one year after Premier Doug Ford announced an historic $330 million investment in kids' health and well-being, the children's health system has already been expanding services and improving response times.
To mark the Ontario government's historic investment to expand
children's healthcare across the province, members of the Children's Health
Coalition pose for a group photo with Premier Doug Ford, Sylvia Jones, Minister
of Health, and Michael Parsa, Minister of Children, Community and Social
Services.
This investment is the first of its kind—a broad strategy and multi-pronged investment in children's hospitals and in community-based care. The Children's Health Coalition is doing things differently—looking at the whole system of care, not just certain elements of it. Members are already reporting results that impact all aspects of children's health care in Ontario.
CHEO increased access to care and launched a new regional pediatric surgical program across eastern Ontario that brings care closer to home and cuts wait times.
Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital increased staffing by 10 per cent, added inpatient capacity with four new beds, and is now serving 60 per cent more clients in the day patient unit.
Children's Hospital at London Health Sciences Centre has reduced their waitlist for surgical services and improved access to care through the new Emergency Department Mental Health Team.
McMaster Children's Hospital has focused on growing services, spaces and staff, resulting in more than 4,000 additional patients that received care in outpatient clinics, over 330 more kids treated in eight new pediatric beds, and 512 more kids that received surgeries between October 2023 and March 2024.
SickKids is addressing the surgical backlog across the Greater Toronto Area, referring almost 700 cases across community partner sites. As a result, the wait list is now below 6,000 cases for the first time since December 2022.
Member organizations of Empowered Kids Ontario—community-based providers of developmental health care including six hospitals across the province—have begun to stabilize their workforces, including in Ontario's North where recruitment and retention of top talent can be particularly challenging.
“The government's investments in community-based children's health care over the past few years means our members can see more kids, hire more staff, and introduce innovative approaches to care. At the same time the need for developmental health services has never been greater and we want to continue to work with government to address this increasing demand."
- Jennifer Churchill, CEO, Empowered Kids Ontario-Enfants Avenir Ontario
Children's Mental Health Ontario worked in partnership with the Lead Agency Consortium and the Knowledge Institute on Child and Youth Mental Health and Addictions to transform the delivery of care and address long wait times for kids requiring treatment through the Ontario Intensive Treatment Pathway.
This historic investment has been a critical step toward right-sizing Ontario's pediatric health care system to meet the growing needs of almost three million kids and their families.
“McMaster Children's Hospital and the Ron Joyce Children's Health Centre are already using this funding to stabilize, increase capacity, drive innovation, and enhance our expertise in delivering exceptional care to children and youth within the Hamilton region and beyond. We are grateful to the Ontario government for their support and are eager to more effectively scale operations to meet the needs of kids and families."
- Bruce Squires, President, McMaster Children's Hospital, and VP, Women & Children's Health, Hamilton Health Sciences
By the end of the COVID pandemic, kids were waiting longer for health care across all clinical streams—medical, surgical, developmental, mental health, and diagnostics. During COVID 440,000 babies were born in Ontario and we know at least 10 to 20 per cent will need medical, developmental, or mental health care to succeed and thrive. We must continue to keep our children's health and well-being front and centre so we can respond to this generation's unmet needs, and the potential impact on schools, families, and communities.
Ontario can build on the momentum and innovation this transformational funding makes possible only with sustained and continued investments that ensure all children and youth, and their families and caregivers have timely access to the care and supports they need, where and when they need them.