What is the CHN?

Established in 1999, the Child Health Network for the Greater Toronto Area (CHN) is a unique collaboration of hospital and community providers committed to establishing a more coordinated system of health care delivery for mothers, newborns, children and youth. Current membership of the Network includes eighteen (18) acute care hospitals (consisting of 26 hospital sites), one (1) children’s tertiary level rehabilitation and complex continuing care centre, and five (5) Community Care Access Centres (CCACs).

The CHN facilittes and supports development of a regional maternal/newborn and children’s health services system. Members of the Network work collaboratively to share knowledge and coordinate services throughout the region with a focus on strengthening access to quality care and enhancing continuity and consistency of care across the region.

The CHN operates in Canada's largest and most diverse metropolitan area. More than 69,000 babies are born each year in the region, representing more than half of the province’s births (based on 2006/07 Statistics Canada estimate of 131,141 births in Ontario).

Collectively, Network members have the critical mass required to bring about significant change that would be difficult for any single organization to achieve. The CHN does this by pooling member resources, expertise, experience and ideas, and generating collaborative solutions to current challenges. The Network also works with the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, the LHINs, the Provincial Council for Children’s Health, and the Ontario Perinatal Surveillance System, to plan and implement changes that will improve service delivery, service outcomes, research and education.

Uniqueness of the CHN

  1. The CHN is one of the largest voluntary healthcare networks in Ontario.
  2. The CHN is the largest Network in the country representing the interests of both maternal/newborn and paediatric care providers.
  3. More than 50% of all births in Ontario, and approximately 20% of all births in Canada occur in the GTA.
  4. The GTA region includes over 400 paediatric inpatient beds located on 20 sites.
  5. More than 50% of paediatric hospital care in the province is delivered by GTA hospitals.
  6. 20% of the CCAC caseload in the GTA is focused on paediatric clients
  7. Each day approx 2,700 children on the daily active caseload receive in-home care through CCACs. This volume of care is equivalent to that provided by a large community hospital.