CHATHAM-KENT — The Ontario government is investing $59 million to build the new Children’s Treatment Centre of Chatham-Kent, helping thousands of children with special needs and their families connect to rehabilitation services, closer to home.
“Building a new state-of-the-art Children’s Treatment Centre for children and youth with special needs in Chatham-Kent and surrounding communities is one more way our government is ensuring families can connect to specialized services, no matter where they live,” said Michael Parsa, Minister of Children, Community and Social Services. “We are deeply grateful for the work of the Chatham-Kent Children’s Treatment Centre Foundation’s Board of Directors and all the community advocates, organizations and local MPPs who have helped make this new facility a reality.”
Today’s groundbreaking marks the beginning of construction of the new 58,000‐square‐foot, fully accessible building that will replace the existing site to provide a larger, state-of-the-art space to treat more children and youth with special needs. The new Children’s Treatment Centre of Chatham-Kent will house a team of professionals who provide a range of specialized rehabilitation and respite supports conveniently under one roof, including:
- speech-language pathology,
- occupational therapy,
- physiotherapy,
- services for children and youth with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder,
- audiology,
- respite services,
- Ontario Autism Program services, and;
- coordinating care for children and youth with multiple and/or complex special needs.
“I wish to express my heartfelt appreciation for the tireless work by our community, stakeholders and funders to make the new Centre a reality,” said Donna Litwin-Makey, Chief Executive Officer, Children’s Treatment Centre of Chatham-Kent. “With our vision of Amazing Kids Today, Enriching our Community Tomorrow, this significant provincial investment will meet the needs of our Chatham-Kent children, youth and families with physical, developmental and communication needs. Ground breaking is an incredible step forward, and we are excited to share this key milestone with our community.”
Construction of this new facility builds on nearly $600 million in recent investments to build modernized facilities at children’s treatment centres across Ontario, including planning for the new Lansdowne Children’s Centre in Brantford, construction of Grandview Kids in Ajax, construction of the 1Door4Care: CHEO Integrated Treatment Centre in Ottawa and the successful relocation of Health Sciences North Children’s Treatment Centre in Sudbury.