Children with complex care needs across Ontario may face barriers accessing routine medical procedures, largely because care environments and processes are not always designed to accommodate their unique needs. For many, this means lengthy delays, repeated hospital visits and escalating health concerns that could be prevented with earlier intervention.

At the 2025 Canadian Centre for Healthcare Facilities (CCHF) conference, I had the privilege of moderating a panel discussion with participants , Sandra Stewart, a parent and patient advocate; Dr. Tabitha Carroll, Clinical Executive Lead at Lakeridge Health; and Tom McHugh, CEO at Grandview Kids. Their lived experiences and leadership have become the catalyst for an innovative and collaborative solution that may redefine pediatric care for children and youth across the province.

Jordan’s story

Sandra’s son 11-year-old son, Jordan, is non-verbal and highly sensitive to clinical environments. It can be very difficult to understand what Jordan is feeling or what he needs, especially when it comes to medical care. Even for procedures that may seem routine, such as blood work, administering vaccines or examining an ingrown toenail, Jordan requires sedation, which makes it more difficult for him to access basic care.

As a mother, Sandra just wanted someone to help her son. Despite having firsthand experience working in healthcare, professional connections and an understanding of how to navigate the healthcare system, Sandra spent 18 months looking for someone to help relieve Jordan’s increasingly painful toe condition.

“No one could tell me where to go,” Sandra recounted. “Hospital operating rooms don’t typically perform minor procedures with sedation. It wasn’t ‘complex’ enough to justify a surgical booking.”

When Sandra finally approached Dr. Tabitha Carroll at Lakeridge Health, the response that it “shouldn’t be this hard” shifted everything. That acknowledgement opened the door to a broader conversation about deeply rooted in system-wide gaps affecting countless families.

An opportunity for change

Dr. Carroll and Grandview Kids CEO Tom McHugh were already exploring ways to improve access to care for children with complex needs. Hearing Jordan’s story aligned with their early discussions and served as a turning point.

“Even after Sandra got me involved, it took us six months to get Jordan’s toes addressed,” Dr. Carroll noted. “If it takes someone with direct access to leadership more than six months to secure care for her child, what does that mean for families without that privilege?”

Jordan’s case highlighted a gap in the system and an entire population of people not receiving care or having the same access to care as everyone else.  This revealed a disconnect between hospitals and children’s treatment centres, which serve overlapping populations but often operate independently.

This realization fueled a new question: What could be possible if these organizations worked together?

The power of a purpose-built space

Grandview Kids’ 100,000 sq. ft. facility in Ajax includes a procedure room and pre- and post-care spaces designed for future collaboration. The infrastructure was there, even if the plan wasn’t yet defined.

Dr. Carroll and Tom quickly identified a mutual starting point: providing conscious sedation for Botox injections – a common but often painful treatment for children with spasticity. Through this idea, a partnership emerged. Lakeridge Health would supply the anesthesiologist, anesthesia assistant and nurse for the procedure, while Grandview Kids provides the space, physicians and nursing support. Additionally, the Lakeridge Health Foundation agreed to support the partnership model by funding critical equipment, and Ontario Health moved to reinforce the model and help accelerate planning through its surgical partnership mandate.

Grandview Kids’ familiar, child-friendly environment is central to the partnership’s mission. With the infrastructure and a plan in place, this seemingly small starting point became a strategic jumping point to deliver procedures that don’t require a full operating room.

Children like Jordan, and others with different diagnoses, can be sensitive to bright lights, noise, unfamiliar equipment, people touching them and crowded spaces. Without alternative care pathways, families often leave emergency rooms or clinics without solutions to address these concerns. These barriers are also not limited to pediatrics – many seniors with dementia face similar challenges.

Grandview Kids and Lakeridge Health’s new model embraces inclusive design principles, including sensory-friendly lighting, private examination spaces, familiar staff, consistent care teams, and adaptable procedure rooms with reduced visual and auditory stimuli.

Sandra shared a powerful comparison: her family recently attended a Toronto Blue Jays game where stadium staff noticed Jordan’s autism awareness lanyard and immediately directed them to a sensory room and provided a sensory bag with noise-reducing headphones, fidget tools and a weighted lap blanket.

“It blew my mind that a baseball stadium had thought through my son’s needs better than our healthcare system,” she said.

Potential impact

Launching in early 2026, Grandview Kids and Lakeridge Health will collaborate to open a collaborative pediatric procedure clinic that will begin by sedation-based treatments that don’t require a full operating room, such as Botox injections, minor wound care or other routine interventions for children with complex care needs. The pediatric procedure clinic will start by scheduling availability one day per month, but both Dr. Carroll and Tom expect demand to increase rapidly.

“I think our once-a-month will turn into weekly clinics, and then into a full-fledged needs assessment and procedure area,” Dr. Carroll noted.

The long-term vision for this initiative extends beyond a single room. It represents a true system partnership that can be replicated across Ontario in any location where children’s treatment centres and hospitals operate side by side without integration.

Key takeaways

One area of agreement for all the panelists is that collaboration must begin early, especially when planning new infrastructure or redeveloping facilities.

Grandview Kids’ procedure room was built with partnership in mind but still required $1 million in fundraising to retrofit the space with a variety of medical tools and anesthesia equipment because it hadn’t been programmed in full collaboration with clinical partners.

Capital planners play a vital role in ensuring healthcare spaces reflect the real clinical needs, evolving care models and lived experiences of the community. As Tom emphasized, “When organizations are dreaming about a partnership space, ask the right questions early. It saves time, costs and missed opportunities.”

A step toward better, more accessible care

For Sandra, the impact is both personal and hopeful. “I hope we see a whole lot more of this type of collaboration. Not everything fits neatly into a process. Some people need a little bit more time and understanding to get through some of these medical procedures. Sometimes you just need someone who recognizes this and is willing to try.”

The new procedure room at Grandview Kids represents more than a physical, purpose-built space. It marks a step toward more accessibility and inclusivity in pediatric care – and it all began with one parent’s determination to ensure her child got the treatment they needed.