Children’s Hospital and Shriners collaborate to improve care

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The London Children’s Hospital is collaborating with a Montreal hospital to improve care for children with bone diseases in southwestern Ontario.

London Health Sciences Centre Children’s Hospital and Shriners Hospitals for Children Canada (SHC Canada) will announce a new collaborative agreement at a news conference in London on Friday. The two hospitals said the collaboration will focus on improving specialist orthopaedic care, advancing research and educating the next generation of healthcare providers in the field of pediatric bone disease.

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LHSC said the “first-of-its-kind” partnership will bring specialist care closer to the doorstep for families in the region who would otherwise have to travel long distances to receive treatment.

“This is an exciting opportunity to create something unique and special for the patients and their families we serve, as well as the staff, physicians, researchers and students who are essential to providing this care,” said Nash Syed, vice president of Children’s Hospital.

He said the formal collaboration agreement builds on existing informal clinical collaboration and referrals between the two hospitals.

A key part of the partnership is the opening of a new clinic each month at the Children’s Hospital to provide specialized treatment for children with complex bone diseases. LHSC said the Shriners Rare Bone Disease Clinic will give patients and families in southwestern Ontario the opportunity to receive part of their treatment at LHSC rather than having to travel several hours to the Shriners Hospital in Montreal.

The consortium, funded by $1.5 million over five years from Shriners Hospitals for Children Canada, will also focus on advancing research and improving education in the field. For example, a research grant will be awarded to support innovative projects involving researchers from both hospitals that have the potential to improve the treatment of childhood bone disease, LHSC said.

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LHSC said that starting in the summer of 2025, the two hospitals will offer joint fellowships for physicians to gain experience in trauma care at LHSC and in specialty orthopedic care at Shriners Hospitals.

LHSC serves 1.5 million people, including more than 400,000 children from birth to 18 years of age in southwestern Ontario.

The Canadian Children’s Hospital is an acute care hospital in Montreal that specializes in the care of infants, children and young adults with orthopedic and neuromuscular conditions, such as scoliosis and brittle bone disease.

A spokesperson for the Canadian Republican Army Hospital said the partnership “opens the door” for the hospital to develop similar collaborative projects across Canada.

“This collaboration is a dream come true for us,” said Jacques Boissonneault, administrator of the Canadian Children’s Hospital.

“Not only will it improve the lives of patients and their families, but it will also advance research and teaching.”

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