The Advanced Community Eating Disorders (ACED) Care initiative was established with support from TD Bank Group (TD) in 2022 to provide the capacity-building resources and operational support required to develop holistic eating disorder care for young people in Simcoe Muskoka. Funding from TD has enabled the Simcoe Muskoka Regional Eating Disorder Program (SMREDP), a joint initiative between Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre (RVH) and Orillia Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital (OSMH), to partner in a pilot program with New Path Youth and Family Services (New Path) to add extra supports for patients. New Path is an accredited children’s mental health agency providing a range of compassionate, innovative, and accessible services for children and youth, their families, and caregivers throughout Simcoe County.
“The Simcoe Muskoka Regional Eating Disorder Program and New Path proudly announce a collaborative initiative aimed at delivering crucial support to children and youth struggling with eating disorders,” says Laura Hurst, Manager, Child and Youth Ambulatory Care Services at RVH. “This strategic partnership seeks to strengthen regional resources and establish specialized assistance in a community setting for a uniquely complex and underserved demographic.”
New Path will support SMREDP select patients before and after completing the manualized care program with additional mental health services while they await entry to the program and when they have been discharged. These extra supports delivered in the community will help to improve patient outcomes and support these patients throughout their entire care journey.
“We are excited to be working collaboratively with our hospital partners to provide coordinated, seamless, and specialized eating disorders services for children and youth in our community,” says Jim Harris, CEO at New Path. “This collective approach to providing services helps ensure children and youth receive accessible, timely, evidence-based service when and where they need it.”
To access the SMREDP, a referral from a physician or nurse practitioner is required.
 Care initiative was established with support from TD Bank Group (TD) in 2022 to provide the capacity-building resources and operational support required to develop holistic eating disorder care for young people in Simcoe Muskoka.){kind=link}