From cbc.ca
Three Ontario hospitals have launched an official partnership aimed at improving health care for children who receive services at more than one facility.
The new Kids Health Alliance, formally created in Toronto on Wednesday, is designed to improve pediatric care in the province in part through better communication.
The Hospital for Sick Children, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital and the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario — Ottawa Children's Treatment Centre all founded the alliance.
Dr. Michael Apkon, president and CEO of SickKids, said the alliance is designed to improve the pediatric health system by improving access to what he called consistent, high quality care for children and their families.
He said its aim is to help the hospitals better serve patients and families who use the facilities and to provide a more "coordinated approach" to care. Ontario's health ministry is investing $1.3 million in the partnership.
"Kids who face illness, injury or disability rely on a complex network of providers that involve hospitals, home and school environments, as well as a spectrum of publicly funded and unfunded community services," Apkon told reporters.
"Each of these many excellent providers in Ontario have a narrow area of responsibility and families bear a disproportionate burden in trying to co-ordinate their care.
"Kids Health Alliance arises from the need to better serve these kids and their families, to drive better communication between providers, to provide high quality care, to provide it closer it to home where possible, and to partner on initiatives such as joint clinics and integrated health records."
For Stephanie Paravan, an Ottawa mother of a 10-year-old boy, Matthew Paravan, the alliance is "great news." Her son has spent time in all three hospitals that formed the alliance — SickKids, Holland Bloorview and CHEO OCTC.
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