# Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario

The Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario — Ottawa Children's Treatment Centre, commonly known by its acronym CHEO (/ˈtʃioʊ/ CHEE-oh), is a children's hospital and tertiary trauma centre for children and youth located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. CHEO serves patients from eastern Ontario, northern Ontario, Nunavut, and the Outaouais region of Quebec.
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
    The emergency entrance to Children Hospital of Eastern Ontario1983 - 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 landing at CHEO2005 - 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 - 1st 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 - 1Call1Click 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