The Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario is a health care centre dedicated to providing comprehensive care to children and young people in Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec. Founded in 1974, CHEO offers a range of medical services for patients from birth through 18 years of age.
The hospital receives 6,000 inpatient admissions each year, and its outpatient programs handle more than 240,000 patient visits annually. The Emergency Department handles on average 150 visits per day.
Approximately 775 medical staff, approximately 600 nursing staff, more than 1,200 full/part time employees and 487 volunteers work at CHEO.
CHEO is the primary paediatric teaching hospital of the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Medicine. Through the work of its Research Institute, CHEO maintains a growing reputation for major research into diseases and health problems afflicting children. These include muscular dystrophy, spinal muscular atrophy, pain, hamburger disease, cystic fibrosis, teenage suicide, and new drug therapies.
Some of the Hospital's most widely recognized programs and facilities include:
- the Ontario Regional Poison Information Centre extending 24-hour emergency assistance;
- a 10-bed Paediatric Intensive Care Unit;
- a 20-bed Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for treatment of critically ill newborns;
- a major centre for the surgical repair of cleft palates;
- a 24-hour emergency psychiatric assistance team linked with inpatient and day programs;
- an internationally recognized program for hearing impaired and deaf children, including those with cochlear implants;
- the CHEO Research Institute Building as the major paediatric research organization in Eastern Ontario;
- a Medical Day Unit providing complex treatments for a variety of programs including oncology and kidney dialysis;
- a Teen Health Centre offering a broad range of clinical youth services and support programs;
- a respected Infectious Diseases program for inpatient and outpatient care of such serious illnesses as cystic fibrosis, immunological deficiency (including HIV), and tuberculosis;
- an expanding Day Care Surgery Unit, reducing parent-child separations for many surgical procedures;
- regional programs for both Neonatal Genetics and Virology
