By: Julia Hanigsberg, President and CEO, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, and Dr. David Ceglie, Chief Executive Officer, Hotel Dieu Shaver Health and Rehabilitation Centre
Ontario’s population is both aging and growing, with more people living with multiple chronic conditions and more children and youth living with disability and developmental differences. The medical, mental, rehabilitation, and psychosocial needs of these populations are, in many cases, evolving and becoming more complex. Rehabilitation is imperative and empowers people across our province to achieve their fullest potential, experience optimal well-being, and enjoy the best possible quality of life.
Ontario’s Rehabilitation and Complex Continuing Care (Rehab-CCC) hospitals play a vital role in supporting the health, wellbeing and recovery for people of all ages.
Rehab-CCC teams leverage a patient centred approach to create personalized care plans that foster independence and optimize function — whether through inpatient services, outpatient rehabilitation, or community-based care. This sector also delivers complex continuing care to individuals who are medically stable but require sustained, interdisciplinary support that is not available elsewhere. In many cases, patients who might otherwise transition into long-term care are able to return home and reintegrate into their communities as a result of targeted rehabilitation, intensive therapy, and specialized interventions provided in the Rehab-CCC setting.
This integrated, functional and personalized philosophy is essential across the lifespan — supporting children, older adults, and every stage in between. For children, early intervention in rehabilitation can yield lifelong benefits and help them grow into healthy adults who can actively contribute to their communities, society, and the economy. By addressing physical, cognitive, and functional needs early, we can reduce the likelihood of long-term service requirements and prevent future health crises. For older adults, timely access to rehabilitation can keep them out of acute care or support their safe return home, where they can continue living healthy and independent lives. Across all ages, rehabilitative care strengthens individual well-being, reduces strain on caregivers, and builds a healthier, more sustainable health system.
Less people in hospitals also means more people living productive lives within their community. Before, during, and after a diagnosis, injury, illness, or life-altering condition, Rehab-CCC can ensure people are supported with personalized, quality, safe, and timely care.
This proactive and integrated approach to individual wellbeing impacts far beyond the individual — it enables children and youth to realize their full potential, supports older adults in maintaining independence, and reduces patients’ reliance on hospital resources. These are all outcomes which, in turn, reconfigure overall health care expenditures to be more cost-effective.
Across the province, Rehab-CCC hospitals are leading the way in innovative research and developing new interventions and models of care to advance outcomes and reduce system costs. Rehab-CCC is creating scalable and accessible solutions that can be adopted across Ontario. Their work spans precision health, community outreach teams, and innovative technologies supporting patients with brain injuries, neuromotor, neuromuscular, and musculoskeletal conditions, as well as dementia.
With appropriate investment and policy alignment, these innovations can help meet the surging demand for chronic disease management, neurodevelopmental and disability care, and specialized geriatric care.
Holland Bloorview has partnered with Empower Kids Ontario to bring groundbreaking technology to kids and families across the province. Brain computer interface (BCI) technology, developed at the Bloorview Research Institute, helps children and youth with limited speech and movement control their environments using Electroencephalography (EEG) headsets that translate thoughts into commands. This includes playing video games, painting with a robotic ball and even moving their wheelchairs using the power of their thoughts alone.
As a result of this partnership, and a generous donation from The Slaight Family Foundation, 20 different children’s treatment centres across Ontario will have access to this cutting-edge innovation that contributes to greater autonomy, independence, and dignity for children and youth with severe disabilities.
Looking forward, several high-impact opportunities can help optimize Rehab-CCC’s contributions, so every Ontarian has equitable access to the best possible rehabilitation care and services they need and deserve. These include investing in specialized training for the next generation of highly skilled and diverse health care providers and leaders, expanding access to outpatient and virtual rehabilitation in underserved areas, establishing centralized tele-rehab hubs to support primary care providers, and strengthening and diversifying our partnerships by embedding Rehab-CCC leaders in strategic planning at all levels of health system decision-making. We also see immense value in better linking Rehab-CCC services with Ontario Health Teams (OHTs), especially in communities without a dedicated Rehab-CCC hospit
The future of Ontario’s health system depends on its ability to meet people where they are — socially, physically, mentally, and functionally. The Rehab-CCC sector is ready to lead that transformation. With the right supports, our hospitals can act as anchors of recovery and rehabilitation to create a more connected, convenient, and compassionate health system for all Ontarians.