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Firsts


  • BC Children's Hospital and Child Health BC launched the first hip surveillance program for children with cerebral palsy. This is the first of its kind in North America, and one of six around the world.

  • BC Children’s Hospital is the first in Canada to use neonatal transport incubator equipment to improve safety and comfort for vulnerable newborns by allowing them to receive MRI scans with less sedation, and without being moved from their incubator. 
  • Orthopedic surgeons at BC Children’s Hospital were the first in Canada to perform minimally invasive spinal surgery for scoliosis. With this minimally invasive technique, young patients experience less pain, less blood loss, and can get up and move around earlier, enabling them to go home sooner.
  • The BC Early Hearing Program remains the only program in Canada graded "excellent" in a national progress report on early hearing detection and intervention, distributed by the Canadian Infant Hearing Task Force. 
  • In 2016, the BC Early Hearing Program partnered with Dr. Soren Gantt of BC Children’s Hospital/Child and Family Research Institute and BC Women’s Hospital + Health Centre to pilot a program that screens high-risk newborns for congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection. CMV screening in newborns had never been done in BC before. The collaboration between the program, Dr. Gantt and his research team, and BC Women’s was the first of its kind in Canada.
  • The Heart Centre at BC Children’s Hospital was the first in Canada to use a new advanced diagnostic tool to provide cardiologists with improved intravascular views and to better map changes in blood vessels.
  • BC Children’s Hospital and Child Health BC launched Canada’s first tele-pediatric intensive care service (tele-PICU) in 2017, providing children with increased access to specialized  care closer to their home community. Intensive care teams can now collaborate with health care providers in communities across the province to help children receive diagnosis and treatment sooner, and often without leaving their community.
  • B.C. launched a new COVID-19 mouth rinse and gargle sample collection for school-aged children in 2020, making testing  easier for parents and children. Provincial Lab Medicine Services, the Public Health Lab, BC Children's Hospital and BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) worked together to launch the program, which was the first of its kind in Canada.
  • BC Children’s Hospital has the first portable digital x-ray machine in BC, allowing high quality digital x-ray images to be taken of patients in an instant, right at their bedside. 
  • BC Children’s Hospital was the first healthcare organization in BC to launch “Patient’s View” – a BC Patient Safety & Learning System initiative that solicits feedback about safety and quality of care from the perspective of patients and families.

SOURCE: Firsts ( )
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