Desperate for better care for their son with cerebral palsy, this P.E.I. family turned to Alberta

A P.E.I. family says the province's health system failed their young son to the point where they shelled out thousands of dollars to get him care in Alberta on top of the support he was given back home. 

Sixteen-month-old Elliot Rossiter has cerebral palsy. Since his diagnosis six months ago, a number of specialists on the Island have been seeing the Miscouche child every four to five weeks. 

His parents, Kate DesRoches and Spencer Rossiter, say that isn't enough. 

"They really thrive off of routine therapy… weekly. It's hard that on the Island… it seems like that's not going to be a possibility for Elliot," his mother told CBC News. 

"It's really unfortunate for Elliot's sake that that is how it is — and his success might be altered due to the unavailability." 

Here on P.E.I., Elliot sees vision and hearing specialists in Charlottetown, and also gets speech, occupational and physical therapy in Summerside. 

But his mom said those visits amount to only about 20 minutes with each specialist per appointment. The family was told the reason was a lack of therapists and a large volume of patients.

So in February, to get him more care, DesRoches travelled with Elliot and his baby sister to the Canadian Centre of Development in Calgary.

Elliot's team at the centre saw him every day for three weeks, and DesRoches said he's developed and gotten stronger because of it. 

He's now able to sit up for short periods of time and has started trying to take steps with the help of a walker — though his mom said she was told in P.E.I. that he wasn't ready for that piece of equipment. 

"Elliot made so many accomplishments out there in such a short amount of time," said DesRoches, now back on the Island. 

"We don't want accommodation; we want to see progression. We want to see him learn new skills. We want to push him and challenge him because he's capable of learning and doing these things." 

In a statement to CBC News, Health P.E.I. said it can't speak about Elliot's particular case. The agency did say that hundreds of children receive pre-school pediatric services on the Island, and the team often works with out-of-province rehabilitation centres to deliver the latest evidence-based strategies for care. 

"Despite the high demand for those services, therapy teams work closely with families and other health professionals in their collective effort to provide the best outcomes for children in need of support," the statement reads.