Thanks to The Hospital for Sick Children and Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, a dozen kids in Qatar are benefitting from a new state-of-the-art children's hospital.
A partnership was developed a year ago between the Hamad Medical Corporation in Doha, Qatar, and SickKids Hospital, for the latter to advise on the development and operation of the new children's hospital.SickKids got in touch with Holland Bloorview, experts in pediatric rehab and complex continuing care, to consult on developing services for children who are chronically ventilated and to build rehabilitation capacity for children with congenital and acquired medical conditions. Now, 12 children who depend on ventilators to breathe, including several who have never before been out of bed, have been moved from a pediatric intensive care step-down unit to a more appropriate children's rehabilitation unit. The unit offers more freedom for mobility and is designed to support a variety of innovative, therapeutic programs not previously available in their acute hospital setting. "I've done several visits already," Chitra Gnanasebesan, respiratory therapist at Holland Bloorview, said in a phone interview from Qatar. "This visit is to ensure the kids are stabilizing and settling down in the new environment. These children are on life support."The project, which began three years ago, initially identified what was needed to keep the kids healthy and happy, Gnanasebesan said."The children received very good care prior to us becoming involved," she said. "We were looking at clinical stability. Keeping them healthy and giving them good quality of life as well. They are now able to leave the room even if they are on a ventilator. The children are mingling with their siblings and bonding with their families. They have a chance to go outside. It's so heartwarming."Cathy Seguin, vice president of international affairs at downtown SickKids, said in a release the hospital's strategy is to share knowledge and help other organizations build capacity in their own countries."It is rewarding to see our expertise and innovations being implemented in other parts of the globe and having a significant impact on improving the quality of life of children worldwide," she said.Holland Bloorview is located on Kilgour Road (midway between Eglinton and Lawrence avenue), off Bayview Avenue.