Newmarket hospital joins eight others hospitals in coordinating approaches to caring for children
Newmarket, ON (October 23, 2019) – In keeping with its commitment to champion new networks of care, Southlake Regional Health Centre (Southlake) has joined Kids Health Alliance (KHA).
Kids Health Alliance (KHA), founded by The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital (Holland Bloorview) and CHEO, is a not-for-profit network of partners working to create a child and family-centred approach to high-quality, consistent, coordinated pediatric health care.
“We are excited to join Kids Health Alliance and more closely collaborate with our community and specialty hospital partners to improve the care we provide for children,” said Arden Krystal, President and CEO of Southlake. “In addition to improving the care we deliver, our goal with this partnership is to create a more seamless experience for patients and their families when they need to visit various hospitals to receive care.”
Southlake joins five other community hospitals in this alliance, in addition to the founding hospitals. Those community hospitals are Markham Stouffville Hospital, Orillia Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital, Pembroke Regional Hospital, Humber River Hospital and Michael Garron Hospital.
“On behalf of the KHA Board of Directors, we are excited to welcome Southlake to KHA,” said Dr. Ronald Cohn, Board Chair of KHA and President and CEO of SickKids. “With our collective focus on advancing the delivery of high-quality, evidence-based care, partnerships with community hospitals like Southlake will enable greater coordination and standardization for patient and families as they navigate the system.”
Joining KHA builds on Southlake’s ongoing efforts to bring high quality children’s services to northern York Region and south Simcoe County. To date these efforts include:
- A Pediatric Oncology Group of Ontario satellite clinic
- A Level 2C Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
- Regional child and adolescent mental health services
- Regional child and adolescent eating disorders program
“We deliver care to over 20,000 children each year in our Emergency Department and strive to provide a high quality experience for each of them,” said Dr. Gaurav Puri, Interim Chief of Emergency Medicine at Southlake. “We are excited to collaborate with KHA to find new ways to enhance the care we provide to our pediatric population.”
The KHA partnership will initially focus on enhancing pediatric care through the Emergency Department at Southlake, before broadening its scope to include the Southlake’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and inpatient pediatric care areas. Partners will develop and deploy best practices in clinical care and share specialized pediatric resources and expertise.
“The partnership between Kids Health Alliance and Southlake is really a partnership with our entire community,” said Dr. Arif Manji, Chief of Pediatrics and Pediatric Oncologist at Southlake. “It represents Southlake’s commitment to delivering leading edge care to our children closer to home, honouring the trust that parents place in us everyday when they walk through our doors.”
KHA plans to continue to grow the network to include organizations across the continuum of care, providing patients and families with more seamless transitions between health-care providers.
“Infants, children and youth are not little adults – their health-care needs are very unique, and KHA is a model to make tangible improvements in front line care. We believe that by working together to improve access and health outcomes for children and youth, our best can be even better. We look forward to working with Southlake Regional Health Centre. On behalf of existing partners, I’d like to extend a very warm welcome to the entire Southlake team,” said Larissa Smit, Interim Executive Director of Kids Health Alliance.
About Southlake Regional Health Centre
Southlake Regional Health Centre is a full-service hospital with a regional, clinically advanced focus. We provide our communities with care right from birth to end of life and in addition, we provide top-notch services such as cardiac and cancer care across York Region and Simcoe-Muskoka.
We do this through innovative partnerships and amazing people, who represent every aspect of our many services. With a team of more than 3,700 employees, 600 physicians and more than 900 volunteers, Southlake is committed to creating an environment where the best experiences happen.
Media Contacts:
Matt Haggerty
Southlake Regional Health Centre
mhaggerty@southlakeregional.org
289-380-0576
Sasha Babakhanova
The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids)
sasha.babakhanova@sickkids.ca
416-813-7654 ext. 228469