Sudbury's Children's Treatment Centre to be moved to Southridge Mall

The province says the Children's Treatment Centre at Health Sciences North in Sudbury will be moved to the Southridge Mall.

The news comes after Sudbury's hospital announced it is getting 52 new patient beds — and needs to make room for them. The Children's Treatment Centre is located next to the hospital, and will house the new beds.

Hospital President and CEO Dominic Giroux says about 10 sites were considered by a 20-member steering committee before deciding on a new site for the treatment centre.

"We wanted space that was readily available where we could have a direct entrance from outside, where kids could be safely dropped off or picked up in school buses, especially in the winter, reasonably close to the hospital, accessible by city transit," he said.

The treatment centre will take over about the same amount of space that they were occupying at the Ramsey Lake Road site.

"What really is the selling feature of this new space, which is the old Treasure Hunt store space, is that it's a completely open space with high ceilings. And for your listeners who have been to Treasure Hunt and shopped there, it will absolutely not look the same. And for the children who are clients at the treatment center, they will have access to a larger gym space, additional therapy space, and playground space," Giroux said. 

Renovations at the mall are expected to start in the new year and are hoped to be complete by next summer. The cost of the project will run between $3 and $4 million.

Meanwhile, Ontario's minister of Children, Community and Social Services says talks are ongoing about developing a children's hospital in northern Ontario.

"We are working with Dominic and his team and the entire community in the Sudbury region to make sure that we're meeting the needs of that community," Minister Todd Smith said.

"As Dominic talked about, there was an extensive consultation process that occurred and a strategic plan that was laid out in making this decision. So there will be, you know, similar types of conversations that are happening with NEO Kids."

According to the NEO Kids Foundation, about 3,900 children from across the northeast make 10,000 trips to Toronto, Ottawa and London to receive specialized care.

Giroux says part of Health Sciences North's capital master plan is to cluster the programs and services related to kids and youth and to allow for expansion over time.

"We'll have more to say about that next year as we reveal the details of our proposed Phase One of our capital redevelopment," he said.

"As you know, our strategic plan calls for a capital redevelopment because HSN was built too small. We were intended to be a one-site hospital and we currently have 12 sites, [and] will soon have 13 sites with Southridge Mall. So we'll have more to say in the New Year with our capital redevelopment."

Giroux clarifies that the Children's Treatment Center is one of many components of the NEO Kids and family department.

"All the other units remain at the their current locations at the Ramsey Lake Center. So whether it's the acute pediatric inpatient care unit, the neonatal intensive care unit, the birthing center, the ambulatory pediatric clinics, the Violence Intervention and prevention program, all these programs remain at their current locations," he said.

In hospital news release, the president of the United Steelworkers Local 6500 in Sudbury said today's announcement was welcome news.

Members of USW Local 6500 raised $500,000 for the Children's Treatment Centre from 2003 to 2012 as part of a campaign where one penny from every hour worked by a USW Local 6500
member was set aside.

"The United Steelworkers Local 6500 are long-time supporters of the Children's Treatment Centre and we participated in the initial effort to get this great facility located here in Sudbury," said Nick Larochelle.

"On behalf of USW Local 6500, let me say how excited we are for the announcement of this new location. Today's news is a win-win for the children and their families of the CTC, as well as for the patients and
families of HSN from across northeastern Ontario."