Every achievement to which Enfant Soleil contributes has a tangible impact
on local children and families. This year, more than $8.5 million will be donated to the
Montréal region. As a result, 12 establishments will be able to carry out projects that
are essential to children’s care.
Montreal Children’s Hospital (The Children)
As one of two specialized paediatric centres in the Greater Montréal area and welcoming children from all over Québec, the Children has received significant support from Enfant Soleil every year since 1989. This year, this contribution reaches a new high: $4 million to go even further in providing care to the children and teenagers treated there every year.
As a result, several projects will come to fruition, such as the creation of a Pediatric Sleep Center of Excellence. Research indicates that up to 33% of children suffer from a sleep disorder; this figure rises to 90% in children with neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism, ADHD, learning difficulties and cerebral palsy. Sleep problems have an impact on children’s health and quality of life as well as being a stress factor for families.
Thanks to this centre, it is possible to make a diagnosis and estimate the severity of the disorder more quickly. What’s more, treatments can be put in place thanks to the accuracy and precision of equipment and resources. It can also save parents and children several nights of hospitalization!
The money donated this year will help to advance a number of projects for the well-being of children. Of this amount, $1 million will be used for the Smart Hospital Project, a Canadian first aimed at developing a wireless monitoring system for hospitalized newborns and premature babies. This will be achieved using portable vital signs monitors, which consist of just two sensors: a small patch on the baby’s chest and a bracelet on the wrist or ankle. That’s all there is to it! Parents will be able to hold their babies more easily, and daily care and that of health professionals will be much easier. This sum is in addition to the nearly $800,000 already provided to get the project off the ground.
Hôpital Sainte-Justine
This year’s historic contribution of $4 million to this specialized paediatric centre, one of two in the Greater Montréal area serving children from all over Québec, will have concrete repercussions in all its areas of expertise.
On the one hand, modernization efforts at the Centre ambulatoire Enfant Soleil will continue, transforming the hospital experience for thousands of children and families across Québec.
At the same time, part of the funding will be used to upgrade the Centre d’investigation clinique (CIC), currently under construction, with a pharmacy dedicated entirely to research. The CHU Sainte-Justine pharmacy does not currently have the premises, equipment or specialized resources needed to support the anticipated growth in clinical research activities. This forward-looking centre will provide the space, resources and cutting-edge equipment required to conduct clinical research projects essential to therapeutic advances in paediatrics.
Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont
Conversion of the Maison Lambert into a neonatal follow-up clinic
Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont (HMR) is a tertiary neonatal centre. The care teams look after newborn babies from 26 weeks of pregnancy. The Maison Lambert, located near the Pavillon Rosemont, will be refurbished to meet the growing needs of this clientele and maximize appointments at the neonatal follow-up clinic.
In particular, the refurbishment aims to:
• Facilitate the monitoring of very premature babies and children up to the age of 6;
• Provide more space to meet current and future needs;
• Provide access to an assessment room with a one-way mirror;
• Improve children’s and parents’ experience;
• Offer a space restricted to staff carrying out various follow-up activities;
• Facilitate staff interventions and patient assessment;
• Roll out nutrition workshops on textures run by nutritionists;
• Improve the flow and quality of neonatal services at Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont.
Mey-Lin Gonson
Enfant Soleil of Montreal
She and her family are ambassadors for the cause and their region.
From the moment she is born, Mey-Lin is in distress. The doctors detect that she is hypoglycemic and start her on a drip. Within hours, she is transferred to the intensive care unit of the Montreal Children’s Hospital, where a team of specialists is waiting for her. Over the following weeks, the anomalies detected lead the geneticists to diagnose Beckwith-Wiedmann syndrome. This condition causes a growth defect and predisposes the little girl to develop cancerous tumours. Thanks to a treatment combining medication and continuous force-feeding, Mey-Lin is improving. Life is not easy for the little girl and her family, with all the pain, treatments and worries. Despite everything, Mey-Lin is bubbly, resilient and empathetic, and her family is moving forward, whatever happens. “Every donation helps to make life easier and more ‘normal’ for sick children and their families. Every donation is a chance to learn, laugh and play. Donating is a way of thinking about the future.” Annie Sechao and Olivier Gonson, Mey-Lin’s parents.
Other projects supported in the region
A multiparameter physiological monitor
This monitor will make it easier to track children’s vital signs, such as their heart rate, blood oxygen level, or breathing, in real time.
A transport incubator
This equipment will ensure the safe transport of premature babies or high-risk newborns.
An ambulance stretcher
This stretcher will enable newborns requiring more in-depth examinations to be transported safely and in a suitable environment.
Assessment tools
These tools will make it possible to assess the fine motor skills of children and babies. They will help measure their motor and intellectual development in relation to their age so abnormalities can be diagnosed more quickly.
Fitting out 10 intervention rooms
Every day, the teams welcome hundreds of young people aged 0 to 17 with significant needs. They provide medical follow-up and monitor their development. Refurbishing the intervention premises will enable young people to develop in an environment suited to their challenges.
A communication assistive technology table
This technological table will allow many students to use devices that complement or replace oral or written communication and stimulate their learning. Children with physical or intellectual disabilities will be able to learn more efficiently thanks to these adapted tools.
Three walkers for the physical disability rehabilitation clinic
During the school year, children need to change walkers as they grow. Many children learn to walk for the first time with the help of this device during their physiotherapy sessions and need it to develop their motor skills.
A flexible ramp
This ramp will help children develop their ability to walk, run and jump while maintaining balance. It will help build their independence and self-confidence.
Back stabiliser pads
These pads will improve children’s posture, promote restful sleep, alleviate chronic pain and improve their respiratory capacity. These changes will positively affect the young patients’ quality of life, health and life expectancy.
Enfant Soleil’s Sport and Sustainable Health Fund
To promote and support healthy lifestyles among children through sport, physical activity and healthy eating, as well as cultivating emotional and mental well-being, the FSSD will be supporting 5 local organizations, for a total of $41,200 to bring their projects to fruition.
- Le Phare, Enfants et Familles
- Maison Caracol CPSC de Pierrefonds-Est
- Fondation des jeunes de la DPJ
- Giant Steps Foundation
- Portage