Hamilton's McMaster Children’s Hospital sees more than 210,000 patient visits a year
It’s about leading-edge science, technology and medicine.
And it’s also about dignity.
McMaster Children’s Hospital Foundation works hard to raise funds for its namesake. With more than 210,000 patient visits a year, Hamilton-based McMaster Children’s Hospital—which includes the new Ron Joyce Children’s Health Centre—is the fastest-growing children’s hospital in Ontario.
A 170,000-square-foot building, the Ron Joyce Children’s Health Centre is home to a range of outpatient services and programs, including autism spectrum disorders, child and youth mental health, prosthetics and orthotics, and developmental pediatrics and rehabilitation.
And they’re unfailingly carried out with the human touch.
“Work is being done at the moment to transform an unutilized space in the hospital into an outdoor therapeutic courtyard. While the Ron Joyce Children’s Health Centre was built with a courtyard integrated into the outpatient unit, the hospital’s inpatient program doesn’t currently have one,” says Marg Jones, director, major gifts with McMaster Children’s Hospital Foundation.
“This therapeutic courtyard will have things such as exercise equipment, basketball nets, and places to sit, and it will allow patients to get outside,” adds Jones. “The hospital staff identified the importance for patients of having a secure and calming outdoor space that would significantly enhance the care they receive.”
The foundation provides funding for leading-edge equipment and patient amenities, innovative research initiatives, redevelopment of patient care spaces, and the education and training of health care providers. Fundraising campaigns often target specialized equipment for neonatal intensive care, cancer care, trauma care, mental health programming, and other pediatric services—provided across the two sites.
The hospital also has emergency protocols in place, should a partial or full-scale evacuation ever be necessary. Devices called Evacusleds are installed under hospital mattresses—and in the event of an evacuation, patients are transferred from bed to sled. These sleds can glide easily down hallways and staircases, reduce potential injury to patients and staff, and allow for more efficient evacuations.
Enbridge is committed to improving quality of life in the communities near our operations and projects, including the Line 10 Westover Segment Replacement Program.
In 2016, we invested more than $13.4 million in community-strengthening initiatives across North America—and in recent weeks, we made a $10,000 donation to the McMaster Children’s Hospital Foundation for the purchase of seven Evacusleds.
“We’re here to raise the dollars that help the hospital provide the best care it possibly can,” says Jones.
(TOP PHOTO: McMaster Children's Hospital Foundation fundraising campaigns often target specialized equipment for neonatal intensive care and other pediatric services. Photo credit: Hamilton Health Sciences Foundation.)
