Giving children the care they need closer to home: a project to improve flow in pediatric care

The winter months are often synonymous with crowded emergency rooms and high occupancy rates on hospital wards due to respiratory viruses. The Montreal Children’s Hospital (MCH) and CHU Sainte-Justine are no exception. However, while some sick children require hospitalization, not all need the specialized care offered by these establishments. As the viral season draws to a close, these hospitals report positively on a new project that allows these children to receive the care they need closer to home—relieving pressure in specialized pediatric hospitals.

Since the fall, several healthcare organizations in and around the Greater Montreal area have been collaborating to redirect certain patients from the MCH and CHU Sainte-Justine to centres with pediatric expertise closer to home for further treatment. Already well underway with Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont in Montreal and Hôpital de la Cité-de-la-Santé in Laval, this pilot project will soon be extended to six other facilities. The goal of the project is to enable patients to get the right care at the right place.

The pilot project is aimed specifically at “day hospitals”, i.e. units where patients remain under observation during the day to ensure their condition remains stable. For the time being, three conditions are targeted: urinary tract infections, cellulitis (skin infections) and ear infections requiring inpatient treatment. These patients will be offered a referral to their local pediatric day hospital. An online platform is shared by all participating centres to ease patient transfers and the transmission of information between facilities.

As of March 26, 2025, some 182 patients had been redirected to the pediatric day hospital in their region.

Ultimately, the aim is to set up a network of pediatric day hospitals to relieve overcrowding in academic institutions and increase their capacity to care for children in need of specialized care, while enhancing secondary pediatric care capabilities throughout the community.