In 1992, child cardiac care in Western Canada looked very different. The four western provinces, Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan each had their own surgical program. Children within the provinces were cared for at local hospital sites, and very rarely did patients cross provincial borders to receive treatment. When it came to hospitals in provinces with lower populations, this meant smaller programs and fewer surgeries.

In 1994, in response to events that raised concerns about levels of care in Western Canada, people from across the child cardiac community – including nurses, cardiologists, surgeons, hospital administrators and families – came together to advocate for a common and shared goal: to do better for children who require specialized care.

Change was needed, and the path forward was found through emerging data. New research was showing that higher surgical volumes were having important effects on patient outcomes. The more surgeries performed, the better the patients were doing.

But there was a challenge. How could smaller sites, that serve fewer people, keep the higher volumes that would ultimately improve the outcomes for their patients? An idea was proposed that looked beyond borders, sites and specialities. An idea grounded in the belief that we are better and stronger together.

A recommendation was made to regionalize child cardiac care across the western provinces. Through this approach, surgical resources would be centralized at specific sites, and all of the hospitals would work together to share expertise and complement each other’s resources.

In 1997, the Western Deputy Ministers of Health jointly proposed the concept of a regionalized care network dedicated exclusively to children with heart conditions. The Western Canadian Children’s Heart Network would span 4 provinces, 3 territories, and more than 4 million square kilometers, and it would serve a population greater than 11 million people.

This was no small task. Customized systems had to be built to house and transfer patient data securely across provincial borders, terms of reference had to be developed, and official relationships needed to form between hospital sites. By 2001, after the tireless efforts of many, the strategy, plans and framework were ready.

Five children’s hospitals that previously operated independently were now connected. By collaborating on and coordinating care for children with heart conditions, any child, from anywhere in Western Canada, would have access to world-class care.

In 2003, the WCCHN administrative office was established to support growing operations. The first interprovincial surgical referral was made on October 26th, 2006, marking a significant milestone. Hospitals within the network began working together to deliver services, expand treatment options and ultimately, improve outcomes.

The years that followed saw WCCHN grow into the leading regional care network it is today. Using the WCCHN interprovincial database, hospitals were able to move patients to different parts of the WCCHN team to receive the services needed. Medical teams began collaborating regularly on complex cases. Weekly video conferences allowed care providers to plan and discuss specific cases together, review medical imaging in real time, and to both give and receive expert insight from peers. As Dr. Reeni Soni noted: “it’s like having twenty second opinions.”

As the size of the database grew, the network started to benchmark performance against international peers to ensure children were receiving care that was on par with the world’s leading hospitals. Patient data began to tell the story of the children touched by the network, and offered insights that helped to reshape the care that future patients could expect to receive.

Today, WCCHN is recognized internationally as a leading model for regionalization of care. More than a referral system or a database, the network has become a diverse and vibrant community of administrators, clinicians, care providers and families. The impact of the network has been evident throughout the years. Today, more children have access to world class cardiac care than ever before, more hospital sites have access to resources that complement their own, and more lives are being changed for the better.

But the work isn’t finished. Through new initiatives and the dedicated leadership of the Integrated Advisory Board, WCCHN continues to plant seeds for the future. By building connections, nurturing new ideas and bringing people together, the goal of doing bigger and better for little hearts lives on.

Our initiatives, methods and approach may have evolved over the years, but our mission remains the same: to offer a framework for the collaborative delivery of cardiac care to children in Western Canada. Because if the last twenty years have taught us anything, it is that we truly are better together, when it matters most.