Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario

CHEO, formerly the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, is a globally renowned pediatric health-care institution located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. CHEO is also a tertiary trauma centre for children and youth in eastern Ontario, Nunavut, northern Ontario and the Outaouais region of Quebec and one of only seven Level I trauma centres for children in Canada (others being the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, the Montreal Children's Hospital in Montreal, the Centre hospitalier universitaire Sainte-Justine in Montreal, IWK Health Centre in Halifax, Alberta Children's Hospital in Calgary, Stollery Children's Hospital in Edmonton, and the British Columbia Children's Hospital in Vancouver).

CHEO first opened its doors on May 17, 1974 at 401 Smyth Road in Ottawa. The site includes a hospital, children's treatment centre, school and research institute, with satellite services located throughout eastern Ontario. CHEO, which is affiliated with the University of Ottawa, provides complex pediatric care, research and education. It is a partner of the Kids Come First Health team and a founding member of Kids Health Alliance, a network of partners.

In addition to its clinical mandate, CHEO is an academic health science centre. Each year, it provides education to 2,300 future pediatricians, nurses, and other health professionals.

In 2024, Forbes Magazine named CHEO the best place to work in Canadian health care. CHEO has also been recognized consistently as a National Capital Region Top Employer for more than a decade.

Funding
CHEO is funded by the Government of Ontario as well as by a variety of public donations. One of the hospital's major sources of funding is the CHEO Foundation, which was incorporated in 1974.

Hospital characteristics (2019-2020)

 * Services:
 * 6,623 admissions to CHEO
 * 73,645 emergency department visits
 * 7,783 visits to Surgical Day Care
 * 179,394 ambulatory visits
 * 11,319 visits to Medical Day Unit (i.e. oncology, dialysis, hematology, etc.)
 * Facility (2019–2020):
 * 167 inpatient beds
 * 20 Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)
 * 10 Intensive Care Unit (ICU)
 * 112 Pediatrics, Oncology, Adolescent Medicine and Surgery
 * 25 Psychiatry
 * 73 outpatient specialty clinics
 * Research Institute
 * 73,800 sq feet of research space
 * 676 staff and trainees
 * 299 scientists and clinical investigators
 * 780 active research grants
 * 634 active studies recruiting patients
 * 546 publications
 * 73,283 patients & families involved in research
 * Personnel:
 * 1,856 administrative, service and allied health staff
 * 679 nursing staff
 * 318 physicians
 * 700 volunteers

Timeline


CHEO was formed in 1974 due to the efforts of the community requesting a bilingual healthcare centre for children and the approval by the provincial government. The timeline indicates the year major areas of the hospital were established.


 * 1966 - Ontario government approves construction of children's hospital in Ottawa
 * 1974 - Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario is opened to patients
 * 1975 - Pediatric Neurosurgery Program
 * 1977 - Dental Clinic
 * 1980 - 1st pediatric Burn Treatment Centre in eastern Ontario
 * 1981 - Sports Injury Clinic, Pulmonary Function Lab, Poison Information Centre
 * Children Hospital of Eastern Ontario. Ottawa, Ontario. Emergency entrance..jpg - CTV CHEO Telethon is formed
 * 1984 - Research Institute is launched
 * 1985 - Community volunteers build a Child Activity Centre
 * 1988 - The first two bone marrow transplants in Canada using unrelated HLA compatible donors are performed at CHEO
 * 1989 - Neonatal Transport Team is launched
 * 1991 - Cardiovascular Surgery Program opens
 * 1992 - Heliport is built on hospital grounds for CHEO and The Ottawa Hospital
 * 1994 - 1st Canadian hospital to adopt virtual program Epic for admissions, scheduling
 * 1996 - Youthnet/Réseau Ado, a mental health promotion program for youth is launched
 * 1998 - Care provided to patients from Baffin Island
 * 2001 - First phase of redevelopment project begins, the Telehealth program is formed
 * 2003 - Max Keeping Wing opens
 * 2004 - Apoptosis Research Centre
 * A helicopter in CHEO, Ottawa, Ontario.jpg - New state-of-the-art cauterization laboratory
 * 2006 - Lets Keep Kids Out Of The Hospital campaign, surgery virtual tour is created, Child Life Interactive Computers for Kids (CLICK) is introduced, Ontario's Newborn Screening Program begins, and Roger's House, a hospice for palliative pediatric care is opened
 * 2007 - First Vertical Expandable Prosthetic Titanium Rib (VEPTR) in Ontario, eating disorders program is introduced
 * 2008 - Parental Presence at Induction (PPI) is introduced, allowing parents to be with their children before and after surgery
 * 2009 - Garry Cardiff Wing is opened, houses the emergency department, the neonatal and pediatric intensive care units and the medical day unit for children and youth afflicted with serious illnesses requiring outpatient treatments.
 * 2009 - CHEO opens their off-site Centre for Healthy Active Living, with clinics focused on Obesity and Type II Diabetes
 * 2014 - Child and Youth Protection Clinic launched with Children's Aid Society
 * 2016 - Ottawa Children's Treatment Centre officially becomes part of CHEO as Development & Rehab department
 * 2017 - Kids Health Alliance launched along with SickKids and Holland Bloorview
 * 2019 - The Children's Hospital rebranded with the name CHEO which no longer served as an abbreviation, Kids Come First health team launched, Aakuluk Clinic launched to optimize care for Inuit families
 * 2020 - st Virtual Emergency Department in Canada offered during COVID-19 pandemic
 * 2021 - Accepts adult ICU patients] for 1st time ever to help relieve pressure at adult hospitals, 1st pediatric palliative care residency program in Canada
 * 2022 - Call1Click launched, On-demand interpretation service a 1st in Canada, New simulation lab opens, 2nd Pediatric Intensive Care Unit opens for viral season
 * 2023 - French health provider designation, renderings of new Integrated Treatment Centre shared