News

$200,000 Partnership Development Grant advances field of disability research in Durham Region

Research shows that children and youth from equity-deserving communities experience health care differently from their peers. Sometimes these experiences are affected by multiple identities, such as race, gender or disability. Together with Ontario Tech University, Grandview Kids hopes to better understand the barriers, biases and inequities faced by children and youth with developmental concerns when they are waiting and accessing paediatric rehabilitation.

To help address these critical societal issues, Grandview Kids and Ontario Tech University secured a $200,000 Partnership Development Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). This funding will help advance the field of childhood disability research, strengthening the ongoing collaborative efforts of Ontario Tech University and Grandview Kids, which formalized a partnership in February 2023 to advance research, innovation and education in Durham Region.

“Grandview Kids is dedicated to providing culturally-safe care to all children, youth and caregivers. Through this investigative research, we will advance our work, alongside our Family Advocates, to find a way to better understand the communities we serve. This is an exciting next step in our ongoing partnership with Ontario Tech University.”
Tom McHugh, Chief Executive Officer, Grandview Kids

Partnership Development Grants support formal partnerships between academic researchers, community organizations and other partners that will advance knowledge and understanding on critical issues of intellectual, social, economic and cultural significance.
The grants allow partners to design and test new approaches to research and its real-world applications, foster valuable research relationships and networks across sectors, and provide hands-on training for students and new scholars.

The SSHRC funding will enable the partners to conduct research that will help shape the future of culturally-safe care at Grandview Kids and beyond. The three-year project is titled, “Building knowledge and understanding of the intersection of race and disability in accessing pediatric rehabilitation services.”

Dr. Meghann Lloyd from Ontario Tech University and Dr. Taryn Eickmeier from Grandview Kids are Co-Directors for this research. Dr. Lloyd is also the Senior Research Associate for Grandview Kids, while Dr. Eickmeier serves as an Adjunct Professor at Ontario Tech University.
Co-applicants include: Dr. Robert Balogh (Ontario Tech), Dr. Lesley Jacobs (Ontario Tech), Janicka Auguste (Grandview Kids), Maritza Basaran (Grandview Kids) and Yvonne Mais (The Regional Municipality of Durham).

“This grant demonstrates the strength of the partnership between Grandview Kids and Ontario Tech University. It provides the resources to ask some critical and timely research questions related to the intersection of race and disability when accessing paediatric rehabilitation services. The grant will provide numerous opportunities for students to get involved in meaningful research, while also enabling us to uncover how best to deliver culturally-safe care to children, youth and their families.”
Dr. Meghann Lloyd, Associate Professor, Ontario Tech University and Senior Research Associate at Grandview Kids

This SSHRC-funded research study is the next focus for Grandview Kids and Ontario Tech University’s formal partnership, amplifying the organizations’ shared objective to co-create ethical, sound research that is clinically-relevant and community-informed. The partnership also enables further exploration of experiential learning opportunities for both undergraduate and graduate students, joint research activities across different faculties, academic and non-academic programming, innovation, and entrepreneurship that connects students and faculty with the community, and builds new engagement and outreach across Durham Region and beyond.

Together, Grandview Kids and Ontario Tech University are contributing to cutting-edge science that will advance clinical and educational opportunities for the children of the future.

About Ontario Tech University

A modern, forwarding-thinking university, Ontario Tech advances the discovery and application of knowledge to accelerate economic growth, regional development and social innovation. We inspire and equip our students and our graduates to make a positive impact in a tech-focused world. For us, it’s not only about developing the next tech breakthrough. Understanding and integrating the social and ethical implications of technology differentiates us as university. Learn more at ontariotechu.ca.

Media contact:

Avori Cheyne

Chief Communications Officer

Grandview Kids

647-631-2668

Avori.cheyne@grandviewkids.ca

As Grandview Kids embarks on expanding its reach in research, innovation and knowledge mobilization, it has recently welcomed Dr. Fiona Moola as a formal Research Associate. Dr. Moola is an Associate Professor at the Toronto Metropolitan University and comes with a long history of research excellence across many children’s hospitals in Canada. She is also a status-only professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health and Rehabilitation Sciences Institute at the University of Toronto. Dr. Moola is also a Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) and operates a small therapy practice for kids and families. Dr. Moola is the second Research Associate to join Grandview Kids.

Grandview Kids is pleased to welcome Dr. Moola as our newest Research Associate. Partnering with her, and harnessing her incredible passion and expertise, we will advance our research efforts to deliver more innovative, evidence-informed and culturally safe services for thousands of children and youth with communication, developmental and physical needs.
Tom McHugh, CEO, Grandview Kids

Maritza Basaran, Dr. Taryn Eickmeier, Dr. Fiona Moola and
Nivatha Moothathamby posing for a photo at the Grandview Kids Main Site in Oshawa shortly after welcoming Dr. Fiona Moola as Grandview Kids' new Research Associate. — From left to right: Maritza Basaran (Grandview Kids), Dr. Taryn Eickmeier (Grandview Kids), Dr. Fiona Moola (TMU) and Nivatha Moothathamby (TMU)

The partnership is built on the founding values of Grandview Kids: Caring and commitment, whole-child and family-centred, trust and respect, innovation and continuous learning, accountability, and excellence. Together with Dr. Fiona Moola, Grandview Kids Executive Lead of Research, Innovation and Knowledge Mobilization, Dr. Taryn Eickmeier, will be able to inform culturally-safe practices to support all clients and caregivers. This partnership advances a commitment to engage children, youth and caregivers in research and innovation – especially in equity-deserving and marginalized communities.

Over the past three years, I have enjoyed many research-interactions with Grandview Kids. Their research is deeply rooted in an ethics of care, humility, listening, decolonization, relationality, and reciprocity with researchers and participants. It brings me great joy to join Grandview Kids as a formal Research Associate in partnership with the Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU). Together, across Grandview Kids and TMU, I look forward to elevating and amplifying paediatric disability research and discovery in Canada with a particular emphasis on listening to the voices of marginalized communities through an equity lens. I feel privileged and honoured that Grandview Kids has generously opened their doors. I look forward to leaving a lasting footprint on paediatric disability research in Canada with Grandview Kids.
Dr. Fiona Moola, Grandview Kids Research Associate

As the only Children’s Treatment Centre in the Durham Region, Grandview Kids is committed to ensuring all children and youth have equitable access to developmental and rehabilitation services. Furthermore, it is imperative that these services are evidence-informed and ethical. Partnerships with researchers, like Dr. Moola, can help ensure clinical and medical staff are delivering the best available therapies and treatments to clients, in a way that supports goals that are meaningful for each family.

More information about Dr. Fiona Moola and the Grandview Kids Research, Innovation and Knowledge Mobilization portfolio can be found on our Research page.

About Dr. Moola

Dr. Fiona J. Moola is an Associate Professor in the School of Early Childhood Studies in the Faculty of Community Services at Toronto Metropolitan University. Dr. Moola is a Canadian-South African who is the daughter of anti-apartheid activists from South Africa. Dr. Moola is a woman of colour.

Dr. Moola completed Undergraduate, Masters, and Doctoral Degrees at the University of Toronto, graduating in 2011. She completed a Post-Doctoral Fellowship at Concordia University in 2012 before joining the Faculty at the University of Manitoba. Dr. Moola comes with a long history of excellence across many children’s in Canada where she has maintained many lines of research. These include a) children with disabilities, play, and physical activity, b) childhood disability and the arts, c) marginalized childhoods, and d) childhood disability, narrative, and storytelling. Dr. Moola also maintains ongoing lines of research in Indigenous childhoods and children’s mental health.

Dr. Moola’s research is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Canadian Institute for Health Research, TMU, VERTEX, the Holland Bloorview Foundation, and the University of Toronto. Dr. Moola’s work is strongly committed to principles of critical health psychology, social justice, and anti-oppression. Thus far, Dr. Moola has contributed 55 publications (articles and book chapters) to the academic peer reviewed literature. Fiona is a Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) and has a small therapy practice. Fiona also teaches and delivers equity, diversity, and inclusion workshops. Dr. Moola is delighted to join Grandview Kids as its second Research Associate.

Media Contact

Avori Cheyne

Chief Communications Officer

Grandview Kids

647-631-2660

Avori.Cheyne@grandviewkids.ca

Passing the “Grandview Kids sparkle”

In a recent ceremony broadcast to #TeamGrandview, outgoing Grandview Kids CEO Lorraine Sunstrum-Mann “passed the Grandview Kids sparkle” to new CEO Tom McHugh. Here’s what they said to one another:

Lorraine: “Tom, it’s my absolute honour to pass you the Grandview Kids sparkle… This sparkle represents the magic at Grandview Kids. It’s that warm feeling you get when you walk through the doors. It’s the way we work together to support clients and caregivers. It’s the passion that unites our talented and dedicated team. It’s ingrained into our culture as something we celebrate, cherish and work hard to create. Tom, I now pass the sparkle to you with great pride. Preserve it, amplify it because the future is so bright.”

Tom: “Thank you, Lorraine. I feel privileged to take on the enormous but exciting responsibility of maintaining the Grandview Kids’ sparkle–something I noticed as soon as I arrived. With great care and intention, I am committed to building on the momentum of Grandview’s legacy. Harnessing the undeniable skillset of #TeamGrandview, and grounding ourselves in our shared purpose of supporting children, youth and families in the Durham Region, I am confident that our sparkle will grow brighter and brighter.”

*Lorraine passes the Grandview Kids “sparkle” to Tom.*

Meet Grandview Kids’ New CEO, Tom McHugh

Watch Tom McHugh’s introductory interview below as he commences his exciting journey with Grandview Kids.

More about Tom McHugh

Tom brings significant experience to the role as a respected leader who has led complex organizations through times of change and expansion, previously spending eight years in a CEO role at Tillsonburg District Memorial Hospital and Alexandra Hospital – Ingersoll. For another decade, he served as a Regional Vice President of Cancer Care Ontario. Over his career, he has held executive and senior-level leadership positions at London Health Sciences Centre and Lakeridge Health.

Tom began his career as a registered Occupational Therapist, supporting his appreciation of the rehabilitation services Grandview Kids is well-known for offering in the Durham Region. Supplementing his Occupational Therapy training, Tom earned a master’s degree in public administration, focusing on health policy. In addition to his experience in the field, Tom brings a deepened sense of care and understanding to his role at Grandview Kids acquired through his lived experience as a parent to four children, two with a developmental disability.

As the construction of the New Grandview Kids headquarters inches closer to completion each day, Tom undoubtedly enters the CEO role at an exciting time for the organization. Through his storied experience and infectious excitement for change, Grandview Kids is looking forward to learning and growing under Tom’s leadership.

Lorraine, thank you for your dedicated service and incredible leadership over the last 11 years. We wish you all the best in your retirement.

Tom, welcome to #TeamGrandview. With you on our team, our future is sure to be bright!

Announcing the retirement of Grandview Kids CEO, Lorraine Sunstrum-Mann

It is with mixed emotions that we announce Lorraine Sunstrum-Mann, Grandview Kids’ Chief Executive Officer (CEO), will retire in February 2023. Lorraine has been our compassionate leader, unrelenting champion and inspiring motivator for 11 years. During her tenure, Lorraine has transformed how children and youth with disabilities access, engage and guide care in Durham Region and across the paediatric health and social services sector. She has steered the way to establishing a more inclusive, accessible and integrated health system, both locally and provincially.

Under Lorraine’s leadership, Grandview Kids has grown from 80 to nearly 250 employees, providing specialized paediatric and rehabilitation services to more than 16,000 children and youth per year. Lorraine has fostered strong connections between community and school-based partners so that children have access to care in places where they live, learn and play.

Lorraine’s advocacy came to fruition with the April 2022 ground-breaking of “The New Grandview Kids,” a state-of-the-art facility, which will offer leading practice, family-centred services for children and youth with physical, communication and developmental needs. Lorraine’s unwavering determination secured Federal, Provincial, Regional and Municipal government funding and exposure for this monumental project. Her passion and commitment were the key catalysts of change, driving ongoing transformation and modernization as we look to the future of Grandview Kids. Her legacy will live on within the walls of our new Centre of Excellence, slated to open in 2024.

Over two decades serving in frontline and leadership roles with St. Michael’s Hospital and Lakeridge Health, Lorraine campaigned for evidence-based and family-centred practice. She has always valued families as partners in care, actively embedding their voice to guide decisions. At Grandview Kids, Lorraine has been a visionary, adding families to the inter-professional team who oversee the organization’s strategic directions.

Team Grandview has witnessed Lorraine’s ability to make brave decisions – putting families first – and demonstrating a commitment to advance rehabilitation through research, innovation, quality improvement, partnerships and engagement. As a leader, she is accountable, responsible, transparent and innovative. Lorraine’s work has been measurable, but most of all, it has been impactful. She will be dearly missed.

As we consider what this means for Grandview Kids, our Board of Trustees has been engaged in strategic discussions around next steps. Through the oversight of a dedicated CEO Succession Planning Committee, our Board will begin recruiting for the CEO role immediately. The CEO job posting is available on the Grandview Kids website.

In the meantime, please join us in wishing Lorraine support and well wishes as she enters this next chapter in her life, where she looks forward to spending time with her family. Notes of congratulations can be sent to communications@grandviewkids.ca.

There is no doubt Lorraine leaves a lasting legacy for our sector.

Three images of Lorraine Sunstrum-Mann stitched together. From left to right: Lorraine is touching the knee of a child you is sitting down after receiving a vaccine at Grandview's Vaccine Clinic; Lorraine reaching to hug an employee at Grandview's 2022 Staff barbecue; and Lorraine posing with three kids for a photo in a Grandview Kids branded cardboard cutout.

The Power of One:

Nominate a member of Team Grandview for this prestigious award

At Grandview Kids, we take great pride in our most valuable asset – our team.

Each member of Team Grandview gives their best every day. With every appointment, program or service delivered, our clinicians, staff, students and volunteers help build a welcoming and inclusive environment for all families. All Team Members sparkle and we’re asking for your input to help them shine.

Nominate a member of Team Grandview who has made a difference in the life of your child, youth or family.

Any member of Team Grandview can be nominated.

One team member will be selected to receive the Power of One award, presented at our Annual Staff Barbeque in June.

Nominations are now open using this online form until Friday, April 29, 2022.

Questions? Email Communications@grandviewkids.ca

Grandview Kids has been accredited with Exemplary Standing for the third time

Oshawa, ON – Grandview Kids upholds a solid commitment to providing high-quality, safe and effective care to children and youth with disabilities in the Durham Region. Every three years, Grandview Kids undergoes a fulsome review of quality, safety and people-centred care to assess compliance with national standards as set by Accreditation Canada.

Accreditation Canada works globally with more than 1,100 health, social and community service organizations to advance quality and safety. Grandview Kids participates in the Accreditation Canada Qmentum Program, including a comprehensive self-assessment and on-site surveys. Peer Surveyors assessed the organization’s governance, infection prevention and control measures, leadership, medical management, and service excellence in accordance with national standards. The outcome resulted in Grandview Kids being awarded an Exemplary Standing – for the third accreditation in a row over the past ten years!

Accreditors recognized and commented on Grandview’s rigorous financial reporting, excellence in quality management, and the strength of Team Grandview members. It was evident to surveyors the expert-level knowledge and interest to advance clinical practice by clinicians and medical staff. Interviewed community partners recognized Grandview Kids as a “North Star,” providing guidance and leadership within the sector. And families shared with surveyors that Grandview has “outstanding staff and services.” The outcome was no surprise for Chief Executive Officer, Lorraine-Sunstrum-Mann:

“Across all roles in the organization, the team at Grandview dedicate themselves to delivering the very best care to the clients and families we serve. Additionally, they commit to enhancing the professional work environment for each other as a learning environment associated with quality care. Four words have guided our recent projects: Hope, Discovery, Belonging and Celebration. The Accreditation experience underscored how these words come to life every day at Grandview Kids.”
Lorraine Sunstrum-Mann, Grandview Kids CEO

Team Grandview has grown significantly in the past three years, with more than 300 full-time equivalent positions leading to a 111 percent increase in staffing in the past few years. As the organization grows, the Accreditation Canada surveyors encouraged leaders to maintain the motivation to provide the highest quality of care while managing such significant transformational changes.

Many new projects, initiatives and a new building are on the horizon for Grandview Kids. It’s an exciting time to celebrate the tremendous work of Team Grandview while looking to carry our Exemplary Standing to our new headquarters in Ajax and our ongoing satellite locations in Port Perry. Bowmanville, Oshawa and Whitby
Lorraine Sunstrum-Mann, Grandview Kids CEO

Click here to read the executive summary of the Grandview Kids Accreditation Report.

About Grandview Kids

Grandview Kids – founded in 1953 – is an independently operated, not-for-profit Children’s Treatment Centre in Durham Region. A Centre of Excellence for paediatric assessment, care and rehabilitation, Grandview Kids provides specialized programs, medical services, and outpatient clinical treatment and support to thousands of children and youth with physical, communication and developmental needs, as well as support for parents and caregivers. Its mission is to help every child and youth live life to their full potential.
For more information about Grandview Kids, visit: http://grandviewkids.ca/.
For updates, follow @GrandviewKids on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Media contact

Avori Cheyne
Director, Strategic Communications, Partnership and Engagement
905-728-1673 ext. 2240
Avori.Cheyne@grandviewkids.ca