Annual Report 2023-24

Celebrating the past and getting excited about our future

Images of CHEO's year, including a pet therapy dog, ribbon cutting and halloween costumes

The past year has been a time of significant progress and exciting developments. We faced challenges head on, and thanks to our unwavering entrepreneurial spirit, we secured historic funding from the Ontario government. This investment is a testament to the vital role CHEO plays to ensure the health and well-being of children and youth in our community.

With these crucial funds, we have made substantial strides to improve access to care, reduce wait times, and deliver exceptional care to our patients. Some examples include:

Bolstered our team by recruiting more health professionals and staff across departments, including mental health, neurodevelopment, and ambulatory care.

Launched a Rapid Assessment Zone in our emergency department to streamline patient care.
Introduced a new partial hospitalization program for children struggling with eating disorders, as well as a Safer Transitions program to help reduce the number of kids returning to the Emergency Department, and readmissions.
Opened a dedicated mental health transitional unit to support youth dealing with a mental health crisis.
With our partners Kids Come First, launched a regional pediatric surgery program to support more families to get the surgery they need, when they need it, closer to home.

These advancements are just the beginning. We were also thrilled to unveil the renderings of our new Integrated Treatment Centre, which will revolutionize how we care for children with complex medical needs. Construction has also begun on the expansion of our Smyth Road campus with the addition of two new buildings.

At the heart of our achievements, you'll find the incredible people who make up Team CHEO. Their unwavering dedication and passion for improving the lives of children is truly inspiring. We are also forever grateful to the trailblazers who championed the creation of CHEO – their legacy lives on in the exceptional care we provide today.

This 50th anniversary is not just a celebration of the past; it is a springboard for an even brighter future. We are excited to continue to build upon our legacy and ensure CHEO remains a beacon of hope and healing for children and youth in our region for generations to come.

Jo-Anne & Alex

Jo-Anne Poirier

Jo-Anne Poirier
Chair, CHEO Board of Directors

Alex Munter

Alex Munter
President and CEO, CHEO

Highlights of our year

Growing our programs and services

Ontario Government announces historic investment of 330 million to expand pediatric care across the province

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New CHEO Mental Health Transition Unit (MHTU) opens its doors

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CHEO opens first pediatric Eating Disorders Partial Hospitalization Program in Canada

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CHEO launched the Intermediate Care Unit (IMCU) on 4 East on July 25th, 2023, adding a new level of care at CHEO. The IMCU provides a dedicated space with a specialized, multidisciplinary team to patients based on higher acuity, complexity, and resource intensity needs. In the past, similar patients were admitted throughout the hospital, including to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) for enhanced monitoring and interventions now available in the IMCU. Admission criteria for the IMCU includes patients requiring enhanced respiratory support, including chronic and acute ventilation, neurological monitoring, seizure management, and frequent assessments.

The IMCU provides timely access to a higher level of care and expertise for patients and families, while ensuring level 3 critical care capacity is preserved for the most acute and critically ill patients. Since its inception in July, the IMCU has grown from allocating 6 existing beds on 4E for this patient population to 12 beds, offering broader access to this higher level of care. Patients and families benefit from the aligned multidisciplinary team focused on providing the best possible care while the team continues to grow and enhance the care provided and supports available.

In November the Emergency Department Rapid Assessment Zone (RAZ), a new pilot project to improve access to care, went live.

This program aims to streamline the flow of patients through the ED and ensure the right level of care is provided at the right time, by the right care provider. Using a streamlined, multidisciplinary team approach, RAZ intends to address low acuity patients who may otherwise leave without seeking care.

In the first four days alone, RAZ managed to reduce the rate of people leaving without being seen by 35% - great job team!

BOP is a project that focuses on building a stronger, more productive workforce to provide the best care possible for patients and families. Success and positive outcomes are highly dependent on our most valuable resources – our people. The Business Optimization Project focuses on our strongest resources -people and equipping them with the right tools.

After seeing what Epic did for patient records, we know that technology can help us work smarter and faster. With Epic in mind, we wanted to do the same for our back-office technologies - which includes human resources, finance, procurement and inventory management, learning and scheduling. BOP will streamline how we manage our operations to support quality patient care.

In BOP’s aim to deliver on CHEO’s long-term strategy to bring much needed efficiencies and security to our corporate services processes, the major functional areas targeted for transformation are Finance, Human Resources, Payroll, Procurement, Materials Management, Learning Management System and Scheduling of employees.

Growing our space

CHEO unveils renderings of the CHEO Integrated Treatment Centre, also known as 1Door4Care

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CHEO opens new mental health unit spaces

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Growing and celebrating our people

CHEO is named #1 best place to work in healthcare in Canada by Forbes Magazine

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CHEO named one of Canada’s Healthy Workplace Month® Great Employers

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New mental health education video series launched by CHEO experts

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CHEO named 2024 National Capital Region Top Employer

CHEO wins Children’s Healthcare Canada’s leadership and innovation awards

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CHEO launches 50th anniversary celebrations

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2023-24 in statistics

April 1, 2023 — March 31, 2024

Clinic, service or program	Total visits
Ambulatory Care	174,163
Development and Rehabilitation (CTC)	79,189
Genetics	8,591
Medical Imaging	92,561
Emergency Department	72,355
Home and Community Care	6,173
Inpatient admissions	5,837
Medical Day Unit	13,954
Mental Health	20,882
Neurodevelopmental Health	26,800
Surgery	7,392

Financial Operating Statement

CHEO Financial Operating Statement
April 1, 2023 - March 31, 2024

Annual Report 2023-24

Celebrating the past and getting excited about our future

Highlights of our year

Growing our programs and services

CHEO implements Intermediate care unit (IMCU)

CHEO launches new Rapid Assessment Zone (RAZ) to improve access to care in ED

CHEO's Business Optimization Project (BOP) goes live!

Growing our space

Construction begins for new 1,000-vehicle parking building

Growing and celebrating our people

2023-24 in statistics

Financial Operating Statement