Milestones Newsletter | Issue 10, Spring 2025 | Subscribe to Milestones
Driving health system improvements is one of the three strategic priorities in PCMCH’s 2024 - 2029 Strategic Plan. We do this by bringing diverse partners and experts together to tackle pressing issues, needs and equity concerns. Sometimes this results in new standards and guidelines for healthcare providers. Other times, our work culminates in recommendations to government. Often though, PCMCH’s work focuses on strengthening system planning and coordination – the behind-the-scenes work that ensures our health system runs efficiently and with an unwavering focus on improving patient experience and outcomes.
Since 2011, PCMCH has collaborated with experts across Ontario to define and refine levels of care accountabilities for hospitals serving perinatal, neonatal and paediatric populations. This has included the development and implementation of the Perinatal, Birthing and Newborn Levels of Care and the Paediatric Levels of Care, designed to ensure that patients receive care at hospitals that are equipped to safely meet their needs while staying as close to home as possible.
Emergency departments (EDs) are working harder than ever to deliver high quality care to Ontarians. PCMCH’s Emergency Department Paediatric Readiness (EDPR) initiative is another example of our system improvement work that shines a spotlight on the unique needs of children. Through a province-wide assessment survey, we measured how ready EDs are to provide safe and effective emergency care to children and provided a report with actionable feedback to each participating hospital. PCMCH’s findings report summarizes strengths and opportunities identified by our EDPR expert advisory panel to drive quality improvement at the organizational, regional and provincial levels. PCMCH is now collaborating with partners to share the results and identify further opportunities for improvement. In the meantime, a user-friendly checklist can be used by hospitals who missed the initial assessment in 2022.
Whether through our collaboration with Ontario Health to strengthen interfacility transport for neonatal and paediatric patients or through our work with BORN Ontario to use data to drive evidence-based planning, PCMCH remains committed to strengthening Ontario’s healthcare system. Together with all of you – policymakers, healthcare providers, patients and families – we will continue driving system improvements, enabling Ontario’s pregnant women and individuals, infants, children and families to receive high-quality care, regardless of where they live.
Warmly,
Sanober