Regional Maternal-Child Health Networks

There are six regional maternal-child health networks (“regional networks”) in Ontario. These networks are designed to strengthen linkages among maternal-child healthcare providers and other organizations, with an overarching goal of improving health outcomes and health equity for perinatal, newborn and paediatric populations within their geographic catchment areas across Ontario.

Regional networks are intended to align with their respective Ontario Health (OH) regions and collaborate with and leverage the expertise of diverse individuals and organizations in order to advance the following four provincial priorities defined by the Ministry of Health:

Local Gap Analysis and Planning
Executing Improvements to Care
Connecting and Coordinating Providers
Informing/Providing Input to Provincial Entities

Core Elements of a Regional Network

The core elements of a network define the features and functions that can be fairly expected of every network, regardless of maturity, size, and local context, to ensure a minimum degree of consistency across networks. There are three core elements related to network structure (governance and accountability, leadership and human resources, and funding) and three related to network function (partnerships and relationship building, service delivery, and performance measurement). To learn more about the regional networks and the core elements see the report linked below.

Maternal-Child Health Regional Networks: Core Elements for Success (May, 2023)

Regional Networks by OH Regions

West	Maternal, Newborn, Child and Youth Network (MNCYN) South Ontario Maternal Child Health Network (SOMCHN)
Central	Women and Children's Health Network (WCHN)
Toronto	Toronto Region Maternal Child Health Network (TRMCHN)
North West North East	Northern Maternal Child Network (NMCN)
East	Champlain Maternal Newborn Regional Program (CMNRP) Kids Come First Health Team (KCFHT)

Regional Networks Operational Forum

In 2021, the regional networks came together at PCMCH to establish the Regional Networks Operational Forum (RNOF). RNOF is a community of practice comprised of the six OH Regions, PCMCH, BORN Ontario and the MOH, in addition to the six regional networks. It aims to build capacity and collaborate on efforts pertaining to shared priorities along the continuum of care. RNOF additionally creates opportunities for regional networks to share initiatives and data-driven best practices, in order to increase alignment and coordination of efforts in the implementation and evaluation of provincial priorities.