#1door4care: What’s your vision for the CHEO of the future?

Call for expressions of interest to participate as a family advisor for CHEO’s #1door4care project

Would you like to help us create the best space for children and youth at CHEO?

Some of the most vulnerable children in Eastern Ontario face a fractured delivery model of essential health services. Every extra door for care adds to the burden on 40,000 already overburdened families. We can change that. We are bringing together seven locations under one roof — to create a single door for better access and care.

In March 2018, the Government of Ontario announced funding for a new, integrated, state-of-the-art building that will provide customized space and supports for developmental, rehabilitation, behavioural and mental health services provided by CHEO.

We are now in the early stages of that project to deliver a six storey, 200,000 square feet building on CHEO’s main site. To inform this work, we are forming a family advisory table that will report directly to the project’s steering committee. This table will include advisors representing family members and caregivers of the children and youth who access developmental, rehabilitation, behavioural and mental health services at CHEO.

We welcome expressions of interest in filling the role of a family advisor from anyone who can answer ‘YES’ to all the following 4 questions:

• Does your family have any experience with CHEO’s developmental, rehabilitation, behavioural or mental health services?
• Can you commit between two and four hours a month to this initiative?
• Will you be available to attend meetings (in person or virtually), once a month, from March 2019 to August 2019? The meeting times and locations will be determined by the family advisory table.
• Will you be able to provide a couple of hours to review documents and provide feedback between meetings?

We would also like to know the following:

• Do you need any special accommodations? CHEO is committed to providing equal opportunities.
• Are you willing to share your story publicly? We will be active on social media and other platforms as it relates to this project.
• Are you interested in attending community events? There might be an occasional networking or advocacy related opportunity to represent #1door4care at targeted events.

Please contact us describing how you meet these requirements and why you are a good candidate for the position. Please send us your expression of interest in less than 200 words to 1door4care@cheo.on.ca or call Sahar Zohni at 613-737-7600, extension 2919, before noon on Thursday, January 31, 2019.

This project is an important stepping stone toward a more integrated future delivery of developmental, rehabilitation, behavioural and mental health services for children and youth; rest assured that if you are not able to join our Family Advisory Table at this time, there will be many other opportunities and channels by which your voice will be heard.

If you are interested in the #1door4care project, but unable to participate as a family advisor at this time, please let Sahar Zohni know. With your permission, we can add you to our mailing list to keep you informed about others ways to engage with CHEO as this exciting project unfolds.

Thank you for your interest!