From contentious beginnings to a community pillar: CHEO celebrates 50 years of care

CHEO marks 50 years in Ottawa CHEO is celebrating 50 years of caring for children in the capital. CTV's Tyler Fleming reports.

It has been 50 years to the day since the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario first opened its doors.

CHEO is a major institution in the nation's capital, serving children and their families not only from eastern Ontario but also from northern Ontario, western Quebec and Nunavut. Over the last half century, it has grown into a major research institute, and it offers a full spectrum of care beyond emergency medicine, including schooling, autism services, mental health treatments, rehabilitation services, palliative care and training for health professionals. It now helps more than half a million children every year.

The hospital opened on May 17, 1974, treating patients through outpatient clinics. The first patient was hospitalized at CHEO on July 22, 1974. Over the course of that year, CHEO would expand with an emergency department and other facilities. It had three patient floors, 301 inpatient beds, eight operating rooms, a 10-bed PICU, and a a 20-bed NICU. Patients were accepted up to age 16. Today, patients as old as 18 are admitted to CHEO.

Countless community members pushed hard for the provincial government to establish a bilingual children's hospital in Ottawa. The Ontario government approved in principle the construction of CHEO in 1966, at an estimated cost of $10 million, which would be more than $92 million today. Since that time, CHEO has grown thanks to ongoing help from volunteers and community fundraising.

President and CEO Alex Munter said it was a contentious issue at the time.

"The mayor was opposed, the other hospitals were opposed, the medical establishment was opposed," he told CTV News Ottawa's Graham Richardson. "In retrospect, they seem so wrong."

The local government, local health-care organizations and the University of Ottawa endorsed CHEO's establishment in 1969, three years after the first in principle approval for construction of the hospital.

Mothers, grandmothers, pediatricians and others rallied the community to get provincial approval for the hospital, which is now woven completely into the fabric of the city.

"The moral of the story over 50 years is we are here because there was community support," said Munter. "I think our elected officials understand the importance of this institution to the community. They understand that people care about their kids and grandkids and want the best for them and part of having the best for them includes CHEO. I think our elected officials understand that now; maybe they didn't 50 years ago."

The hospital grew over the years, adding pediatric neurosurgery, dental, a sports injury clinic and a neonatal transport team, among many other advancements.

A glimpse at some of the CHEO milestones since 1974:

Everyone who has passed through CHEO's doors has a story, from children who spent formative years at the hospital to workers whose lives were transformed by their experiences. Even celebrities have had their impact on the hospital.

Early in its life, just a year after opening, a patient named Sandra was staying at CHEO, and was disappointed that she could not see Donny Osmond as he performed at the Ex that summer. The young heartthrob, just 18 at the time, called Sandra, spoke with her on the phone for more than half an hour, and sent her an autographed picture.

Marie Osmond also stopped by at one point, and posed for a photo with nurses.

But it's the every day people who made the CHEO experience so special.

Mari Teitelbaum is CHEO's chief information officer today, but years ago, she was spending weekend afternoons sitting in the x-ray department while her mom was on-call as a CHEO radiologist. An accident with her fingers turned her into a patient and, to this day, she remembers the kindness of Dr. James Wiley, who provided follow-up care. Working as CIO, her story came full circle when helped save a young boy's fingers.

"She received a phone call asking for approval for $5,000 of medical-grade leeches to support blood flow and try to save this young patient’s fingers. It wasn’t until the third call that she realized it wasn’t a prank and that in a strange full circle moment, she had gone from patient to fixer," a story on CHEO's website explains.

Teitelbaum's daughter would later work as a screener at CHEO – three generations of women under one roof.

This story is just one of many CHEO is celebrating as it marks a half-century of care in the community.

CTV News Ottawa would like to hear your stories, too. If you have photos of working, staying, or volunteering at CHEO, from its earliest days to today, email [e-mail]. We will include as many of your stories as we can on this year's CHEO Telethon, June 8.