Kitchener, ON – September 11, 2024 – September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, and Grand River Hospital is shining a spotlight on more than 25 years of care. Since 1998, Grand River Hospital and the Pediatric Oncology Group of Ontario (POGO) have championed, and provided, childhood cancer care closer to home for families in Waterloo-Wellington and beyond.
“More than 4,500 families in Ontario have a child in cancer treatment or follow-up care, including many children in our local communities,” says Dr. Carolyn Hutzal, Chief and Medical Director of Pediatrics, Grand River Hospital. “For over 25 years, our POGO Satellite Clinic has made it possible to ensure the best possible treatment and quality of life for children and families in Waterloo Region and surrounding areas by partnering with children's hospitals through POGO to offer care closer to home. It’s fitting that this milestone anniversary aligns with Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, and we’re excited to celebrate with patients, families, alumni, and clinicians.”
As a POGO Satellite Clinic, Grand River works in partnership with POGO; Children’s Hospital, London Health Sciences Centre; McMaster Children’s Hospital, Hamilton Health Sciences Centre; and SickKids to orchestrate care in Waterloo Region. Through this partnership, Grand River can provide a range of services — from scans and assessments through to treatments and post care — helping save families the time and cost associated with travel to London, Hamilton, or Toronto. Grand River’s POGO clinic provides childhood cancer care for a catchment area bordered by Guelph, Cambridge, Stratford, and Owen Sound, seeing on average 20 new patients every year. The Hospital’s POGO Satellite Clinic has already served over 400 families since its inception and supports approximately 30 inpatient admissions annually.
“Waterloo Region is one of the fastest-growing regions in the province, estimated to be home to one million people by 2050. As we look towards the future of local health care, these types of partnerships will play a critical role in meeting the current and emerging needs of our communities’ rapidly growing and increasingly diverse population,” says Ron Gagnon, President and CEO, Grand River Hospital.
Reflecting on the clinic's remarkable journey and its impact to date, Lauren Ettin, POGO CEO, remarks, “This milestone anniversary of the POGO Satellite Clinic at Grand River Hospital is a testament to the unwavering commitment of our healthcare professionals and hospital partners, who have championed care closer to home for patients and families. Together, we have helped to lessen the disruption to families’ daily lives, allowing families to focus more on what matters most—maintaining some of their routines, and perhaps even a small sense of normalcy while their child is in cancer treatment.”
To celebrate this milestone anniversary, Grand River Hospital and Foundation, in partnership with POGO, are inviting patients, alumni, and families of the Hospital’s POGO Satellite Clinic to an exclusive carnival-themed event on September 29 from 11 a.m. to 2p.m. at Victoria Park Pavilion in Kitchener. “This is our chance to reconnect past patients with care providers and to provide current patients and families the chance to connect with others who have gone, or are still going, through treatment,” says Paul McIntyre Royston, President and CEO of Grand River Hospital Foundation. “It’s a chance for children to be children, not patients.” For more information or to register to attend, please visit 25yearsofcare.ca or email rsvp@grhf.ca.
The POGO Satellite Clinic Program is a networked, shared-care system based on a partnership between Ontario’s five hospitals with specialized cancer programs and eight community hospitals. The clinics are part of a coordinated system of childhood cancer care and enable children to receive aspects of cancer treatment in their own communities, helping families remain near their support systems. POGO also offers programs and services to meet families where they are — from the point of diagnosis, through treatment, and into survivorship — including financial support, POGO Interlink Nurses, POGO AfterCare Clinics, counselling for survivors about their post-secondary options for school or work, and palliative and bereavement support for families is available should the need arise.
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Media Contacts
Victoria Ott
Integrated Director, Strategic Engagement
Grand River Hospital and St. Mary’s General Hospital
519-588-4687
victoria.ott@grhosp.on.ca
Jacqui DeBique
Senior Manager, Communications
Pediatric Oncology Group of Ontario
416-592-1232 x 266
jdebique@pogo.ca
About Grand River Hospital
Grand River Hospital is building a world-class health system for all in the communities we serve. One of Ontario’s largest community teaching hospitals, we’re delivering exceptional, patient-focused quality care by a team of dedicated healthcare workers and volunteers. Located in one of the province’s most diverse and rapidly growing regions, we provide services and support to more than 840,000 residents of Waterloo Region and Guelph Wellington at our two campuses (KW and Freeport) and satellite locations. Driven by innovation, we’re proud of our partnerships and collaborations with health system partners, our region’s academic and innovation communities, and diverse community partners.
grandriverhospital.ca | Twitter and Instagram @GRHospitalKW | YouTube: griverhosp | Facebook and Linkedin: Grand River Hospital
About Grand River Hospital Foundation
At Grand River Hospital Foundation, we dedicate ourselves to our great community by working in partnership with people from all walks of life to make every healthcare experience exceptional. Our main objective is to raise money to support the programs and equipment needs of Grand River Hospital. Thanks to the generous support of donors across our communities, we’re helping to build a world-class healthcare system for all, right here.
careneverstops.ca | Twitter and Instagram: @careneverstops | Facebook and LinkedIn: Grand River Hospital Foundation
About the Pediatric Oncology Group of Ontario
Pediatric Oncology Group of Ontario (POGO) works to ensure that everyone affected by childhood cancer has access to the best care and support. We partner to achieve an excellent childhood cancer care system for children, youth, survivors, and their families and healthcare teams, in Ontario and beyond. POGO champions childhood cancer care, and as the collective voice of this community, is the official advisor to Ontario’s Ministry of Health on children’s cancer control and treatment. POGO is a non-profit organization with charitable status, here for kids with cancer, for now, for life. Later this month, POGO will release the latest five-year plan for Ontario, the Childhood Cancer Care Plan: A Roadmap for Ontario 2024-2029.
Pogo.ca | Twitter, Instagram, YouTube: @pogo4kids | Facebook and LinkedIn: @PediatricOncologyGroupofOntario