When care comes home: Rethinking what pediatric care can look like

HN Summary

• Care where children need it: Bayshore’s pediatric program provides specialized nursing and support for medically complex and fragile children in their homes, schools and communities.

•Supporting the whole family: Community-based care helps children attend school, participate with peers and maintain everyday routines while giving parents essential respite and support. 

• Recognized for quality: Bayshore’s B.C. Pediatric and Specialty Nursing program achieved Accreditation with Exemplary Standing in 2026, recognizing its commitment to safety, quality and family-centred care.

For families caring for a medically complex or fragile child, health care happens at the kitchen table, on the school bus and in the classroom. It can mean managing medications, monitoring a child’s condition, supporting mobility or providing specialized nursing care — while also trying to make space for homework, siblings, birthdays and simply being a family.

That is where community-based pediatric care can make a profound difference.

The Bayshore HealthCare Paediatric Program provides specialized nursing and support services for medically complex, fragile, and chronically ill children in their homes, schools, and communities. Care is delivered by registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, Allied Health Professionals and personal support workers through government-funded and private-pay programs.

In British Columbia, that work has been taking place for more than two decades through Bayshore’s Pediatric and Specialty Nursing (BPSN) program. Established in 2003, the program provides in-home and in-school respite nursing care across Vancouver Coastal Health, Fraser Health, and Island Health.

At its heart, the program is about more than delivering clinical care outside a hospital. It is about helping children remain connected to the places, people and routines that matter to them. 

That approach was reinforced in January 2026, when the BPSN program in Burnaby achieved  Accreditation with Exemplary Standing, the highest possible recognition from Accreditation Canada.

“This recognition underscores the hard work and passion of Bayshore employees, whose expertise and compassion drive our efforts every day,” says Lisa Ternoway, Area Director  BPSN program, B.C.

Accreditation Canada assesses organizations against rigorous standards covering leadership, medication management, infection prevention and control, staffing, home care services, and service excellence. The process also includes interviews with staff, clients, families, and community partners, as well as direct observation of care.

For a pediatric program operating across homes, schools, and communities, that clinical practice and care consistency matters.

So does listening.

Bayshore’s Family Advisory Network in British Columbia was established to ensure that the experiences of children and families help shape how care is delivered. That is an important distinction. Family-centred care means providing care to a family as well as creating opportunities to understand what matters to the family.

For families of children with complex medical needs, the impact of that support  extends well beyond clinical care.

On B.C.’s Sunshine Coast, consistent nursing support and care has helped one child who is medically complex, shift from attending school only a few days a week to attending five days a week for the school year. At home, overnight respite has allowed both parents to work and sleep while caring for their son and his sibling.

Chloe Mustard, manager of clinical practice for Bayshore’s pediatric and specialty nursing programs, says the objective is to create as much normalcy as possible.

“The whole goal is to lessen the burden from parents,” Mustard says.

For the child, the support has meant more than regular school attendance. He has participated in classroom activities, delivered his first oral presentation, and developed relationships with classmates. This fall, he is entering high school.

These are milestones but for a child whose medical needs once made regular attendance difficult, they represent something much bigger: the opportunity to learn, grow and experience childhood alongside his peers.

Bayshore HealthCare’s Chief Nursing and Clinical Officer, Maureen Charlebois, says the accreditation reflects that broader commitment.

“We are proud to have met and surpassed national standards set by Accreditation Canada, which places the highest value on the safety, well-being, and dignity of patients, their families, and the communities we serve,” she says.

The journey to Exemplary Standing builds on a long-standing commitment to that philosophy. In 2017, Bayshore’s Paediatric Specialty Care Program in B.C. received an Exemplary Award from Accreditation Canada, recognizing its focus on quality, risk management in community settings, family-centred care, and client outcomes.

The latest Exemplary Award received this year suggests that the work has not stood still.

For the Burnaby Pediatric Respite Program, quality is lived out in the details: a nurse arriving at a family’s home, a child receiving support at school, a parent gaining some much-needed respite, or a medically fragile young person being able to participate more fully in everyday life. For many families, this is essential health care.

As health systems across Canada look for ways to provide care closer to home, programs such as Bayshore’s Paediatric Specialty Care Program offer an important lesson. The future of care is not necessarily about bringing every patient into a health-care setting. Sometimes, it is about bringing the right care into the patient’s world.

If you would like to learn more about our Pediatric Home & School Support Services, please contact  CQresponseteam@bayshore.ca

Simon Campbell, Communications Specialist PAC.

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