Province announces $8.1M investment in eating disorder services for children, youth

The Province of Ontario is investing $8.1 million into specialized services for children and youth diagnosed with eating disorders.

The announcement was made Friday at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) in Ottawa, one of the four hospitals that will receive funding, along with the Hospital for Sick Children, McMaster Children’s Hospital and the Children’s Hospital at London Health Sciences Centre.

“Today’s announcement is another step forward in our plan to make it easier for all Ontarians to access the right level of care to meet their needs and feel supported on their journey to wellness,” said Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health.

In a release, the province said healthcare providers have seen a surge in the need for eating disorder services for children and youth during the pandemic.

Mary Kloosterman, CEO of Children’s Mental Health Ontario, said they have seen 30 to 35 per cent more children in need of such services as compared to pre-pandemic numbers.

The funds will go towards adding 14 inpatient surge beds as well as 10 more day treatment spaces to help children and youth with eating disorders transition to community care.

CHEO currently has 14 young patients admitted with eating disorders, but only six beds dedicated to the issue, with the rest of the patients spread across the hospital. The hospital will receive $4.4 million from the funding to increase inpatient capacity and create one cohesive unit for patients with eating disorders.

Kloosterman added that currently, patients who are admitted to CHEO with eating disorders are already in a fragile state and part of the funding will go towards early intervention services so that hospitalization can be avoided. A partial hospitalization program will also be created for those ready to leave the hospital so they can continue to receive hospital-level care without staying at the facility.

“We are so grateful to the provincial government for being responsive to meet the needs of some of the most vulnerable youth in our community with this announcement. CHEO is always here for these kids and now we can do more,” said Alex Munter, president and CEO of CHEO.

The new funding is in addition to the $11.1 million in annualized funding built into the province’s Roadmap to Wellness plan to support specialized eating disorder services to children, youth and adults.

Over $10 million will go towards the creation of intensive inpatient and day treatment services for those with severe needs, as well as specialized outpatient services for those with moderate needs in areas where there are long waitlists or no services available. The remaining $600,000 will go towards developing and executing early intervention programs.