Four major Ontario pediatric hospitals, with specialized childhood cancer programs, are the first hospitals in Canada to be awarded prestigious international certification recognizing their excellent supportive care for children and youth with cancer.

CHEO (Ottawa), The Hospital for Sick Children (Toronto), Children’s Hospital at London Health Sciences Centre, and McMaster Children’s Hospital (Hamilton) were each certified by the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC) as Centers of Excellence in Supportive Care in Cancer.

Supportive care refers to the prevention and management of the adverse effects of cancer and its treatment. This includes the management of physical and psychological symptoms and side effects of treatment, such as infections, prevention of nausea and vomiting, nutrition, physiotherapy, and psychosocial support. Supportive care aims to improve the quality of rehabilitation, secondary cancer prevention, survivorship, and end-of-life care.

MASCC certification recognizes these oncology centres for integrating the highest standards of comprehensive supportive care services with cancer treatment. These hospitals provide comprehensive supportive care to their pediatric oncology patients. They work in partnership with the Pediatric Oncology Group of Ontario (POGO) to ensure everyone affected by childhood cancer has access to the best care and support, including through POGO’s Interlink, Transitions, AfterCare, and Satellite Clinic services, and implementation of POGO’s evidence-based clinical practice guidelines. 

These four Ontario hospitals join other leading healthcare facilities around the world as MASCC-Designated Centers of Excellence in Supportive Care in Cancer.

MASCC certification is valid for three years.

About MASCC
The Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC) is an international multidisciplinary organization dedicated to research and education in all aspects of supportive care for people with cancer. The certification program aims to promote and recognize oncology centres that demonstrate best practices in supportive cancer care by successfully integrating oncology and supportive care, upholding high standards, and maintaining comprehensive supportive care services. Learn more.

About POGO
Pediatric Oncology Group of Ontario (POGO) works to ensure that everyone affect by childhood cancer has access to the best care and support. POGO partners to achieve an excellent childhood cancer care system for children, youth, survivors, and their families, and healthcare teams in Ontario and beyond. POGO champions childhood cancer care, and as the collective voice of this community, is the official advisor to Ontario’s Ministry of Health on children’s cancer control and treatment. POGO is a non-profit organization with charitable status, here for kids with cancer, for now, for life. Learn more.

POGO is pleased to welcome Jennifer Lomax as Chair of our Development Cabinet and member of our Board of Directors.

Jennifer is Founder and Principal Consultant at Lomax & Co., an advisory firm that mobilizes strategy and implements sustainable management systems to drive superior business results. In this capacity, Jennifer worked with POGO to develop its current organizational strategy. Energetic, pragmatic and unapologetically candid, Jennifer uses her mastery of stakeholder engagement and facilitation to devise and deploy practical, high-impact business solutions. She has over a decade of experience working with organizations of all sectors and scale, including Fortune 500 companies on the client side and in strategic planning roles. Jennifer most recently served on the board of the Loeys-Dietz Syndrome Foundation of Canada.

She attained her MBA from Ivey Business School in 2011 and in 2013, Marketing Magazine named her one of Canada’s Top 30 under 30, recognizing the country’s smartest young marketers.

“I’m passionate about supporting my community and meaningful causes and pleased to join the POGO board and serve as Chair of the Development Cabinet to support POGO’s strategic, fundraising and outreach goals.”

To quote Brené Brown, “Maybe stories are just data with a soul.” It is POGO’s hope that everyone who engages with these stories will learn something new about the childhood cancer experience, by seeing it through the eyes of patients and their families.

Ethan’s Story

Ethan was six years old when he was diagnosed with medulloblastoma, sub category 3.

Today, Ethan is 10 years old and in this story he draws on his love of video games to talk about overcoming obstacles, forging new paths, and appreciating what makes him and others unique.

Layya’s Story

This story is a poignant reminder of the impact that a childhood cancer diagnosis has on the entire family unit, in particular, siblings. Layya talks about the confusion and pain she felt watching from the sidelines as her sister, Sara, went through treatment for a brain tumour.

Sara’s Story

Sara is Layya’s sister. She was diagnosed with low-grade astrocytoma when she was seven years old. What followed was a harrowing journey that moved her family from their home in Lebanon to Canada to seek treatment, which was difficult for the entire family. The hardest part of the journey for Sara, though, came after she was declared “cancer-free,” which is an experience shared by many survivors. Reintegrating into school and relating to her peers were tremendous challenges at first. Yet Sara perseveres, and her story is a powerful reminder that even small acts of kindness can make all the difference in the lives of a child with cancer. 

Yvonne’s Story

Yvonne is mother to Alyssa. This story describes Yvonne’s early experiences with the healthcare system as she searched for an answer to what was ailing her child. A mother’s intuition is a powerful thing, and Yvonne knew something was terribly wrong. Instead of support, she encountered suspicion, judgment and worse.

This story delivers a message that is hard to hear, but one that we can all learn from. It is not about any one institution, but rather highlights inequities in the healthcare system at large that will only be corrected when we collectively acknowledge and address them. POGO shares this story in the spirit of learning together to help us all be positive agents of change.

Nelly’s Story

Nelly was diagnosed with medulloblastoma when she was 10 years old, which significantly affected her vision. She was in the dark—literally and figuratively—and felt so hopeless at times that she didn’t see the point of engaging with the world around her. Nelly’s story reminds us how disorienting a cancer diagnosis can be for a child, and how resilient children can be in the face of challenging circumstances.   

We are thrilled to announce that in November 2022, Desjardins made a three-year commitment of $90,000 to POGO. Together, we are transforming the cancer journey for children, youth, survivors, and their families in Ontario and beyond. 

As a financial cooperative group committed to empowering people and communities, Desjardins recognizes the socioeconomic toll childhood cancer treatment has on our families.