DONATIONS AT WORK HIGHLIGHTS 2024/25
Transforming care through Hospital at Home
When 14-year-old Jaylee was diagnosed with bone cancer in February 2025, starting treatment meant she was pulled away from the routines and comforts of everyday life.
However, thanks to the donor-funded Hospital at Home program, she is able to receive much of her treatment surrounded by her favourite comforts — her family, home-cooked meals and cuddles from her dog, Piper.
For a child undergoing cancer treatment or receiving infusions for an immunology disorder, life can become a series of seemingly endless appointments and hospital trips.
Through Hospital at Home, children who need this specialized care can receive some of their treatment from a highly-skilled nurse in the comfort of their own home. This lessens the strain of repeated hospital visits, helping families save time, avoid extra childcare needs, and it lets parents focus on what matters most — supporting their child.
Jaylee’s mom, Melody, says she’s so thankful to the community for supporting the Hospital at Home program. She says having Jaylee be around “all the things that bring her joy and comfort,” has been life-changing.
“It makes such a difference for Jaylee. I see her smile, she’s laughing again, that fuels your spirit — then your body heals too.”
– Melody, Jaylee’s mom
Jaylee says Hospital at Home means she can spend board game nights with her family, go for walks, be outside in nature and see her friends.
“At home, I can do all the stuff I want to do,” she adds.
Over the last year, there have been 1,892 Hospital at Home visits and 93 children and their families benefitted from this special care.
Thanks to generous community support, even more capacity has been added to this incredible program, broadening its services and providing care to patients and families previously beyond the program’s reach.
This expanded capacity includes Home Away from Home, a partnership with Ronald McDonald House Charities. This new arrangement allows patients who are staying at any of the suites within the newly expanded Ronald McDonald House — adjacent to the Alberta Children’s Hospital — to receive Hospital at Home care. This means the comfort provided by this service now extends to those who must come to stay in Calgary from outside of the city.
Generous community support has also increased appointment capacity for services on weekends.
By the numbers
92%
of patients and families spent fewer than 10 days per month attending in-person clinic appointments.
75%
of families accessed Hospital at Home services for more than 10 days over the past six months.
83%
received care in their own homes, while 17 per cent received care at Ronald McDonald House.
Hendrix’s story
A new treatment administered by Hospital at Home is changing how kids receive cancer treatment — allowing them to spend more time being kids.
Last August, Nicole, who is an Alberta Children’s Hospital oncology nurse, brought her son Hendrix to the Emergency Department because she suspected he might have appendicitis.
Hours later, one of her oncology colleagues came in to deliver the news: Hendrix has acute lymphoblastic leukemia. After working as an oncology nurse for more than 14 years, including in the Hospital at Home program, Nicole was shocked to be on the other side of the journey, guiding Hendrix through all the things she’s helped other families navigate.
Hendrix’s treatment included a new chemotherapy drug called Blinatumomab, also known as Blina — a newly discovered drug that is now part of the standard of care for children fighting leukemia. Combined with the Hospital at Home program, this treatment allows kids to do normal life things as opposed to being in the hospital tethered to an IV pole for almost a month.
Blina is given by continuous infusion over the course of 28 days, administered through portable pumps carried in a backpack. The medication bag is changed by a Hospital at Home nurse every three days.
By allowing at home use of Blina, the program significantly reduces the burden on families, eliminating the need for daily hospital visits, minimizing disruptions to work and school schedules and reducing the need for additional childcare.
Hendrix’s treatment will take two-and-a-half years. Nicole says advancements like Blina and Hospital at Home give her son the opportunity to enjoy regular life, which keeps his spirit healthy.
“The fact that this medication can be received mainly at home and that the team will come to us is incredible. Hendrix is able to go to school, see his friends… he gets to be a kid.”
– Nicole, Hendrix’s mom
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