It's a great question.
We know that when children are born and have complexities and life-saving needs, the best place for them is in the large academic health science centres. We have those centres across the country. We talked about Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta. We have them in Toronto.
The thing is, once these kids become stabilized, it's the development of really strong programs in these remote communities. You can have good respite programs. They may be small. It could be a small setting. Having those hub and spoke models and having that interconnection between.... If there was a program or organization that was provincial or national, you could have supports for those remote communities. The only time they would need to access the large academic centres in the large centres is when they have an acute episode. Then they would need to go there.
There are mechanisms to develop this and families shouldn't have to relocate. You can do it in small pockets. I think what COVID has made us do—which we've done extremely well—is pivot towards virtual care. There are opportunities to use virtual care technology. We had to switch overnight from going to in-house for all of these visits in academic centres to doing virtual care.
The technology exists. There are capabilities for monitoring children in these remote communities. It also gives you a sense of some precursors for when there is decline and when they should go in.
I don't think we should shy away from this notion of remote supports using technology, virtual care and hub and spoke models to support families close to home.