Transforming Lives with Innovative Care
At Holland Bloorview, we're committed to meeting the evolving, complex needs of children, youth and their families. Indeed, over half of over 9,500 children and youth we serve have three or more diagnoses
From offering specialized therapies and interventions to helping navigate complex health-care systems, we offer vital programs that provide comprehensive and personalized care that makes a real difference in the lives of the children we serve.
Here are three examples of the programs that are transforming the lives of clients and families.
Meeting Families Where They Are
The Extensive Needs Service (ENS) is a specialized program designed to provide wrap-around clinical support to some of the most underserved and vulnerable children and families in Ontario with extensive neurodevelopmental health needs. ENS provides individualized and personalized care ensuring each client receives the care they need, at the right time, in the right place, and in a manner centered around their unique needs.
Kairo, one of the program’s clients, was diagnosed with autism at two and faced major challenges like self-injury and trouble with social communication. Fast forward to now: Kairo is a happy, energetic five-year-old who’s more social and handles changes much better. This transformation began when he joined ENS in January 2024.
His mom, Nikki, is thrilled. “I’m so thankful for the team’s efforts to see my child just be a child.
I now have hope and truly have found a place that just understands.”
Launched in April 2023, ENS is a team effort by Holland Bloorview, CHEO, and McMaster Children’s. The program has helped over 1,100 children by reducing hospital visits, cutting down on missed school days, and easing family stress. It offers personalized, intensive therapy, medical care, mental health support, and service coordination. A dedicated team of social workers, nurses, pharmacists, psychologists, and therapists is also there to provide wrap-around care.
What makes the program stand out is its commitment to accessibility. By partnering with communities across the Greater Toronto Area, Ottawa, Hamilton, and Niagara regions, ENS ensures no child is left behind.
Empowering Families Everyday
The complex continuing care (CCC) unit supports children and youth, from infants to 18-year-olds, with serious medical conditions. Many clients come from SickKids, while others are referred from different hospitals or even out of province. These clients often face respiratory illnesses, brain injuries, or other severe conditions. With a 2:1 client-to-nurse ratio, each child gets constant, attentive care.
In fact, Holland Bloorview stands out as the only pediatric hospital in Ontario where kids with tracheostomies and ventilators receive non-acute care.
Joy Vergara, a nurse on CCC at Holland Bloorview for 20 years, loves seeing the impact of her work.
"It's nice to see that we empower these families," she says. "All of a sudden, clients feel stronger and more capable, and the parents feel more confident. They know now that they're experts in their child's care."
In the past, children with complex diagnoses stayed at the hospital for long periods of time because the community couldn't support them. But now, thanks to better community support and education, that’s changed.
Along with nurses, like Vergara, a team of physicians, physiotherapists, speech-language pathologists, and child life specialists work closely with families from day one, focusing on discharge plans and preparing parents for the next steps.
Over the last six years, the CCC Unit has also grown its medical team, adding two pediatric respirologists, a nurse practitioner, and a developmental pediatrician.
“We want to, as a team, support these families because the best place for them to be is at home,” says Vergara.
Making a Difference in the Day-to-Day
Spinal muscular atrophy is a rare genetic condition that causes muscles to weaken over time and affects about one in 10,000 kids. But at Holland Bloorview, intensive therapy is changing the game.
The hospital runs the only inpatient spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) intensive therapy program in Canada – and every day, it’s transforming lives.
Imagine a young patient who dreams of being more independent at school and being able to walk for longer distances. Thanks to this program, they build the strength and endurance to achieve that dream. Another child learns to take off their jacket on their own, just like their friends.
"These day-to-day actions might seem small, but they mean the world to these kids and their families," says Dr. Laura McAdam, a dedicated physician director and clinician investigator with over 16 years of experience who developed the unique program.
The unique program offers either a six-week inpatient stay or a day patient stay with therapy five days a week. Each child receives a personalized plan based on their goals, with daily physiotherapy, occupational therapy, fun recreational activities, and school time. They also meet with specialists like speech-language pathologists, dietitians, and child-life experts.
"It’s all about what’s important to the child and their family," says Dr. McAdam.
The program kicked off in 2019, and since then, it has grown and adapted to meet the changing needs of its clients. With newborn screening now catching SMA earlier — as well as the approval of some therapeutic medications that help — the program is seeing younger children and setting new goals tailored to their development. In addition to the intensive inpatient and day patient options, the program is also piloting an outpatient rehab therapy model as a research project, led by the clinician scientist.
As for plans for the future of the program, Dr. McAdam hopes to take it beyond the hospital.
"We have some out of province children who are coming, so I would love if we could develop something that works well in their communities,” says Dr. McAdam. “If we could continue with our partnership across the country so that people don't have to travel as far, I think that would be beyond impactful for all of those families."
