This year, Estrie is receiving more than $1.3 million to improve the care journey and overall health of children in the region.
Enfant Soleil helps more than 100 healthcare facilities across the province and provides invaluable support to the four major pediatric centres, which give specialized and sub-specialized care to any child who needs it.
Spotlight on a project promising beautiful things on the horizon
Hôpital Fleurimont, CIUSS de l’Estrie-CHUS
The CHUS is much more than a local hospital for Sherbrooke residents: it provides specialized and superspecialized care to young people in the Estrie, Centre-du-Québec and Montérégie regions. As such, it has received major annual support from Enfant Soleil since 2004. This year, this contribution sets a new record: $1.3 million to improve and enhance the care provided to the more than 35,000 children and adolescents who are treated at the CHUS each year.
Part of this amount will fund essential equipment for the Pavillon Enfant Soleil et urgence (PESU) in Sherbrooke to support the care teams and give children and their families always safer, gentler and more compassionate care, mainly thanks to the acquisition of intubation carts and a cardiac ultrasound machine. Recently inaugurated, the PESU was a major project highly anticipated in the region to meet the growing number of births, the needs of premature babies and greater demand for pediatric and child psychiatry consultations. Enfant Soleil is proud to have contributed to this pavilion so essential for families. Its $10M donation helped bring maternity, neonatology, pediatrics, child psychiatry and obstetric services together in this new space, offering families a modern, calm and bright care environment conducive to healing.
Several projects were made possible thanks to the funds received each year, such as respirologist Dr. Simon Couillard’s asthma research project to facilitate diagnosis and care access for this condition that affects 300,000 children in Quebec. The aim of this project is to introduce a new, non-invasive and much gentler test. The traditional test requires triggering an asthma attack, which is obviously very stressful for young patients and their loved ones.
Helping grown-ups improve young lives
Essential support for the entire pediatric ecosystem
Discover other projects funded in the region
Nursing pillows
- Used in workshops overseen by a nurse, these pillows give teenage mothers tangible and reassuring support by encouraging an optimal latch in a comfortable position so that the baby can receive nourishment vital to their health and proper development.
Musical instruments
- More than 150 children and adolescents will benefit from an accessible and rewarding means of expression during educational and therapeutic activities. Through rhythm, play and creation, the various percussion instruments will foster emotional regulation, collaboration and self-confidence, while creating calming or stimulating moments according to their needs.
- These instruments are financed by the Sport and Sustainable Health Fund, which aims to promote and support healthy lifestyle habits in children through sports, physical activity and healthy eating while also fostering emotional and mental well-being.
Emrick Dumont, Enfant Soleil for Estrie
Emrick and his family are brilliant ambassadors who courageously share their story and reality.
At Emrick’s birth, severe hypoglycemia led to his emergency transfer to the CHUS Fleurimont. After three weeks of testing, he was diagnosed with congenital hyperinsulinism. This rare disease affects insulin levels and threatens the brain if left untreated. Emrick’s early years were marked by frequent hospital stays and constant monitoring of his blood sugar levels. Drinking, eating and growing were major challenges, and the family had to reorganize their daily lives around his fragile health. Today, Emrick leads a more stable life thanks to a glucose sensor on his arm that enables him to track his sugar levels. He does gymnastics, dreams of playing soccer, is learning to listen to his body and continues to shine, supported by his family members, who demonstrate incredible resilience.