HSN Creates NEO Kids Foundation For Children's Care

By Angela Gemmill

There’s a new agency at Health Sciences North that’s dedicated solely to raising money for children’s services, equipment and research.

NEO Kids Foundation will focus on children’s care in Northern Ontario, where currently many families have to travel to Ottawa or Toronto for specialized care for young patients.

President of the new foundation, Patricia Mills, says there is one item at the top of the list as they begin fundraising: the NEO Kids Centre.

She says the foundation will continue to exist long after the buidling is constructed.

Medical Director of HSN’s Family & Child Program, Pediatrician Dr Sean Murray, says so many families are forced to travel outside the region for care for their children.

Every year, 35,000 young patients from across the region visit NEO Kids’ temporary location at HSN.

Many of those children must travel on to Toronto or Ottawa for more specialized care.

That means extra stress and financial burdens on families.

Mills says NEO Kids and NEO Kids Foundation lend a voice to children’s care needs in the North.

NEO Kids currently runs outpatient clinics from its temporary location at HSN, but Murray says its too small for the critical care Northern children need.

The North Eastern Ontario Health Centre for Kids was established in 2014 to offer specialized outpatient clinics.