Site Visits

Members of Children's Healthcare Canada regularly open their doors to welcome elected officials to their facilities. These visits provided an unfiltered view of the life-changing care that is delivered to Canada’s most vulnerable population - our children.

Through these engagements, parliamentarians have witnessed first-hand the profound effects that strategic investments in child health can have, not just on individual patients and their families but on entire communities. These experiences powerfully underscore the urgent need for continued and enhanced federal commitment to child health, ensuring that every child in Canada receives the highest standard of care, regardless of where they call home.

As we continue to push for bold action and meaningful partnerships between government and healthcare providers, the unwavering support of our elected officials is vital to ensuring that every Canadian child has the opportunity to grow up healthy, supported, and empowered to reach their full potential. If you are interested in hosting parliamentarians at your site, please contact us at advocacy@childhealthcan.ca.

Recent Site Visit Summaries

The Honourable Mike Lake (MP for Edmonton-Wetaskiwin) had an opportunity to tour Stollery Children’s Hospital with Dr. Carina Majaesic, Facility Medical Director, Stollery Children’s Hospital and Katharine Sweet from the Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation. The team engaged in a valuable discission about the contrasts in care environments and the challenges faced by children with complex medical conditions, particularly as they transition to adulthood. The tour highlighted spaces designed to support young patients such as “the beach”, an indoor/outdoor play space, and an onsite school which is an extension of the Edmonton Public School. The group also visited the Stollery Awasisak Child Health Program, which ensures culturally sensitive care for Indigenous children and their families.

The team at Qikiqtani General Hospital was honored to welcome MP Lori Idlout, NDP Member of Parliament for Nunavut, Nunavut Minister of Health, John Main, Deputy Minister, Megan Hunt, and Assistant Deputy Minister, Jennifer Berry for a site visit to the facility. Qikiqtani General Hospital is a 22-bed acute care facility in Iqaluit. The hospital serves approximately 16,000 people living in the Qikiqtani (Baffin) Region, which is home to twelve communities spread over approximately one million square kilometres. The team had an opportunity to highlight essential services offered at the hospital including pediatrics, surgery, OBGYN, obstetrics and psychiatry. The facility also provides specialized services several times a year, such as cardiology, dermatology, and neurology, ensuring comprehensive care to meet the region’s diverse needs.

Following the site tour, Dr. Holden Sheffield, Chief of Pediatrics led a presentation on the Inuit Child First Initiative. This initiative is designed to address systemic barriers and funding gaps that prevent Inuit children from receiving access to health, social, and educational services to empower them and their families. Children’s Healthcare Canada was pleased to participate and led a presentation on current advocacy and policy efforts to shape child and youth healthcare policies.

The KidsAbility Centre for Child Development was delighted to host MP Mike Morrice for a site tour. The meeting touched on a variety of subjects including; MP Support with Federal Applications (e.g. Summer Student Grants), National Autism Strategy announcement, the services that KidsAbility offers to support children and youth from birth to age 21 to navigate the entire journey from childhood to adulthood and providing early family-centered services for the wellbeing of children and youth.  
 

On Monday, August 12, the Honourable Bardish Chagger, Waterloo MP, visited KidsAbility's Waterloo site to meet with Jennifer Foster, CEO; Leanne Coombes, Health, Safety and Wellness Coordinator; and summer student Max Stratford, Health & Safety Technician. Max was hired through the Canada Summer Jobs program to work on updating physical demands descriptions at KidsAbility, and has spent time interviewing and observing KidsAbility employees to better understand physical and cognitive demands for each role. 

Canada Summer Jobs is a government program aimed to help support young people and those who may face a barrier to employment, obtain information, gain skills and work experience, which may also help them to obtain future employment in their fields of choice. The program is part of the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy. It is a summer work experience program for young people between 15 and 30 years of age, providing them with opportunities to develop skills, respond to national or local labour priorities, and help improve access to the labour market 

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We were delighted to host MP Yasir Naqvi at Roger Neilson Children’s Hospice. His commitment to our community makes this an important opportunity to share our work and discuss the critical services we provide to infants, children, and youth with life limiting illnesses and their families.  

 

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Roger Neilson Children’s Hospice washonoured to welcome Hon. Jenna Sudds, Minister of Families, Children, and Social Development for a site tour. Minister Sudds had an opportunity to tour the hospice and discuss the vital role of pediatric palliative care for families. We had a valuable discussion about the critical role pediatric hospice palliative care and grief services play for families in our community.  

 

McMaster Children’s Hospital was pleased to invite MP Chad Collins, Member of Parliament for Hamilton East-Stoney Creek for a site tour of the hospital. The team had an engaging discussion on the critical role of McMaster Children’s Hospital in the region and the response to some local challenges faced by youth and families, including emergency care, mental health services and Indigenous health supports.  

 

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McMaster Children’s Hospital was delighted to welcome MP Valerie Bradford, Member of Parliament for Kitchener South- Hespeler to McMaster Children’s Hospital this week to discuss future opportunities in health care research, innovation, and how to expand children’s health to better support kids and families in our region and beyond. 

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McMaster Children’s Hospital was pleased to welcome MP Lisa Hepfner, Member of Parliament for Hamilton Mountain to a site tour with leaders and teams. The team highlighted some of the critical services for children, youth and families, including adolescent medicine, eating disorders, mental health, women’s health, and the Midwifery Care Unit. 

 

Children’s Hospital at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) was honoured to welcome Member of Parliament (MP) Peter Fragiskatos, London North Centre, for a tour of their children’s and women’s services on Friday, June 28. During the tour, MP Fragiskatos and his team were introduced to care providers and support staff in the Paediatric Family Resource Centre; Paediatric Epilepsy Program; Family Medicine Obstetrics Clinic; Maternal Fetal Medicine; Paediatric Critical Care Unit; Transport Team; Children’s Emergency Department; and Indigenous Healing Space. Together, they discussed the crucial role LHSC plays in supporting children, women, pregnant persons and families across a large geographic area that extends from Southwestern Ontario all the way up north to Thunder Bay. 

 

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