NEO Kids and Family Program Receives $500,000 Planning Grant from Province
Posted 19 January 2018 at 12:24pmOntario Improving Access to Health Care for Children in Sudbury NEO Kids and Family Program Receives Planning Grant from Province
Ontario is supporting Health Sciences North to plan an expansion of the children’s health centre in Sudbury, ensuring children and their families will have access to quality health care and social services closer to home.
Dr. Eric Hoskins, Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, and Glenn Thibeault, MPP for Sudbury, were at Health Sciences North on January 19, 2017 to announce that the province is providing a $500,000 grant to help plan for the expansion of the NEO Kids and Family Program.
This project would allow patients who are currently receiving specialized children’s services from other health centres in Ontario to get the care they need closer to home. Support from the province will also help Health Sciences North to:
- Bring together paediatric outpatient health and social services at one site
- Deliver health promotion services with a focus on chronic diseases and risk factors impacting children
- Improve health care services and service delivery for local and Indigenous communities in the northeast
- Coordinate with other health care providers to help patients with advanced care needs.
Building and expanding hospitals is part of Ontario’s plan to create fairness and opportunity during this period of rapid economic change. The plan includes a higher minimum wage and better working conditions, free tuition for hundreds of thousands of students, easier access to affordable child care, and free prescription drugs for everyone under 25 through the biggest expansion of medicare in a generation.
“Health Sciences North provides high-quality care for people in the northeast region. Our government is helping this important hospital plan for improving the quality of care for children in the area so they and their families can access essential services closer to home.”
— Dr. Eric Hoskins, Minister of Health and Long-Term Care
“Today we take an important step to ensure that kids in Sudbury will have a healthier future. Easier to access care designed specifically for the youngest patients means families will have worry-free access to the care they need. It has been my pleasure to be involved with this project for a long time now, so I am very excited to get this first step underway.”
— Glenn Thibeault, MPP, Sudbury
“Today’s announcement allows us to proceed with planning for what the physical expansion of this hospital could look like and more importantly, what new services may be introduced for kids and youth to improve patient care.”
— Dominic Giroux, Chief Executive Officer, Health Sciences North
