The Ron Joyce Children’s Health Centre celebrates 10 years, and over 70,000 children and families served since opening

HAMILTON, ON – Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) is celebrating the 10-year anniversary of its Ron Joyce Children’s Health Centre (RJCHC). Since opening in November 2015, RJCHC staff and physicians have cared for over 70,000 children and families.

“A decade after opening, HHS’ Ron Joyce Children’s Health Centre has transformed pediatric care, access, and outcomes across the region for tens of thousands of children and families,” says Bruce Squires, president of McMaster Children’s Hospital, and vice president, women’s and children’s health at HHS. “As a regional model for integrated outpatient care, early intervention, and community navigation, we are positioned to scale innovations that deliver population level gains in child wellbeing with continued funding and collaboration.”

The purpose-built, state-of-the-art centre is a part of HHS’ McMaster Children’s Hospital (MCH) and was developed to centralize developmental pediatrics and rehabilitation, prosthetics and orthotics, child and youth mental health, and autism services under one roof. Today, the site is a cornerstone of pediatric outpatient care in Hamilton.

“Ron Joyce Children’s Health Centre has achieved so much, and provided extensive support to so many patients and families in our region and throughout the province,” says Karen Margallo, director of Child & Family Community Integrated Care at MCH. “There is a definite need for these services, and our dedicated staff and physicians are proud to deliver this care.”

One such child was Kendall Calder. Kendall, now 31, was born at the former Henderson Hospital (now Juravinski Hospital and Cancer Centre) with her twin sister seven weeks early. Kendall, who has cerebral palsy, also received care in the MCH neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and started attending outpatient services at the former Chedoke site, prior to the opening of the RJCHC.

“As a college student I attended the Technology Access Clinic at RJCHC where teams helped my get a laptop with speech-to-tech software [speak into mic],” says Kendall. “And today I continue to attend the prosthetics and orthotics service at RJCHC.”

To come full circle, Kendall now works at RJCHC, supporting staff work with pre-school and school-aged children. “Some of my caregivers are still at RJCHC, and I’m now working alongside several of them,” Kendall adds.

Located in Hamilton’s downtown core, RJCHC serves families living in the community and throughout the region. Its prosthetics and orthotics program – the largest of its kind in the country – serves both children and adults across Canada. The building itself was purposefully constructed to provide a welcoming, nurturing space for patients, their families, and the community, and has received awards for its unique, environmentally-friendly design.

Below are some amazing facts and figures about RJCHC:

70,000+ children and families served since opening.
In the last year there was nearly 20,000 unique patients reflecting over 148,000 patient visits.
Today, there are approximately 500 dedicated staff and clinicians.
Over the last seven years, annual patients have increased by 11 per cent
67 per cent of the patients are from the Hamilton region, and 33 per cent are from other areas in Ontario.
The Prosthetics & Orthotics Lab, the largest lab of its kind in Canada, provided services to 3,661 pediatric and adult patients last year, including designing and fabricating customized prosthetic and orthotic solutions.
The Extensive Needs Service supported 515 families last year.

For more information on the RJCHC, please click here.

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