McMaster Children’s Hospital offers the Extensive Needs Service program, providing vital wrap-around services for children and youth with urgent and extensive needs in Ontario who have co-occurring medical, physical and developmental complexities and/or social vulnerabilities.
A team of dedicated staff and physicians at McMaster Children’s Hospital, the Ron Joyce Children’s Health Centre, and other community partners are working together to ensure that children and youth with extensive needs and their families can easily access an interconnected system of services.
This focused effort will ensure that the most vulnerable pediatric patients are not left behind because of delays or limited access to appropriate treatments.
Tailored support plans help fill the gaps in hospital and community services to provide an integrated service approach. An integrated pathway of care streamlines the process, reduces barriers to accessing timely, evidence-based, and trauma-informed treatment, and supports optimal health outcomes for some of the most vulnerable children in Ontario.
McMaster Children’s Hospital, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, and the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) are the three sites in Ontario leading the new three-year proof-of-concept program funded by Ontario’s Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services. View the original announcement here: https://www.hamiltonhealthsciences.ca/share/improving-care-for-kids-with-complex-special-needs/
The MCH team is currently engaging with community partners to actively expand the service, and to identify and refer eligible children and youth to the program.
For additional information, please contact mchextensiveneeds@hhsc.ca.
