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Aline Chrétien Health Hub Ottawa: Services, Wellness Programs & Access

Getting health care should not always require travelling across the city, visiting multiple facilities, or navigating disconnected providers. That problem is exactly what the Aline Chrétien Health Hub in Orléans was designed to address. Located in Ottawa’s east end, the Hub brings specialized medical services, diagnostics, rehabilitation, mental health support, pediatric care, senior services, community programs and wellness resources together at one location.

The facility is located at 2225 Mer-Bleue Road, Orléans, Ontario K4A 5M3, near Brian Coburn Boulevard, and can be reached through the main number 613-288-5344. Its model is built around collaboration between Hôpital Montfort and multiple health and community organizations so that patients can receive more coordinated services closer to home.

The Hub should not, however, be confused with a hospital emergency department or ordinary family doctor’s clinic. Some services are walk-in, others require appointments, and many specialized programs require a referral.

This guide explains what the Aline Chrétien Health Hub currently offers, how its wellness programs work, which services require referrals, and what patients should know before visiting.

What Is the Aline Chrétien Health Hub?

The Aline Chrétien Health Hub is a community-based health facility serving Orléans, east Ottawa and surrounding communities. Hôpital Montfort describes it as an integrated model bringing specialized and community health-care services together under one roof for patients ranging from newborns to older adults. Services are designed to be available in both of Canada’s official languages.

The facility originally opened as the Orléans Health Hub. In 2022, following a major philanthropic commitment and the completion of the Montfort Foundation’s fundraising campaign, the facility was renamed the Aline-Chrétien Health Hub.

Its current role goes well beyond acting as an outpatient extension of Hôpital Montfort. The Hub brings together numerous partners, including organizations specializing in children’s care, seniors’ services, mental health, community support, home care, laboratory testing and public health.

The model is intended to improve:

Montfort reports that activity at the Hub has continued growing, with approximately 80,000 visits per year through Montfort services alone, excluding visits generated by partner organizations.

That scale shows why the Hub has become an important part of health-care delivery in Ottawa’s east end.

What Services Are Available at the Aline Chrétien Health Hub?

The range of services available at the Aline Chrétien Health Hub is much broader than a traditional medical clinic. Hôpital Montfort groups its offerings around diagnostic services, specialized clinics, rehabilitation, mental health, geriatrics and community-based programs. Some services can be accessed without an appointment, while others require a referral from a physician or another appropriate health professional.

Current services and programs associated with the Hub include areas such as:

An Ontario Medical Supply store is also available at the facility.

The practical advantage is not simply having a long list of services at one address. The Hub’s partner model is intended to make referrals and transitions between services more coordinated.

For example, someone recovering from a cardiovascular event may require medical assessment, rehabilitation, health education and lifestyle support. Another family may need child-development and mental-health services. An older adult may benefit from exercise programs, social support and geriatric services.

Those different needs can potentially be addressed through organizations operating within the same broader facility.

Laboratory Testing and Blood Work

Laboratory services are among the most accessible components of the Hub. The on-site Bio-Test Laboratory provides blood tests and other routine laboratory investigations, although patients need a valid requisition. The Hub’s current information lists laboratory hours as 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and patients can access their laboratory results through Bio-Test’s secure online patient portal.

The laboratory is located in Wing A of the building. Current instructions direct laboratory visitors to use the North Entrance. Free parking is available at the Hub, and designated parking spaces are available for laboratory patients.

This service became particularly useful to the wider community when the laboratory opened fully to the public. Bio-Test’s Hub location had initially supported patients already attending appointments there, but public access expanded in 2023, improving access to specimen collection for residents of Orléans, Navan and nearby areas.

Before visiting for blood work, patients should:

Do not assume that every laboratory test can be completed under identical conditions. Some tests require fasting, timed collection or other preparation, so the instructions connected with your specific requisition take priority over general information.

X-Rays, Mammography, Ultrasound and Medical Imaging

Medical imaging is one of the strongest service areas at the Aline Chrétien Health Hub. Patients can access several forms of diagnostic imaging without travelling to the main Montfort hospital campus for every examination.

Current radiography services provide walk-in X-rays Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., although a medical referral is mandatory. No appointment is required for basic X-rays, but patients must arrive with their requisition, and the service can stop accepting patients once daily capacity has been reached.

The Hub also provides mammography. Its mammography service participates in breast-imaging care, including the Ontario Breast Screening Program. Current information notes that eligible individuals aged 40 and older may self-refer through the OBSP, although diagnostic mammograms and other circumstances can follow different referral processes.

Ultrasound services available at the Hub include examinations involving:

Preparation differs substantially according to the type of ultrasound. Some require fasting, some require drinking water and maintaining a full bladder, while others require no special preparation.

The Hub also offers bone-density testing for the hip and spine.

Patients should therefore read the instructions for their exact exam rather than relying on generic imaging advice.

Rehabilitation and Physiotherapy Services

Rehabilitation is another major part of the Hub’s role because recovery often continues long after a hospital stay, injury or medical procedure has ended.

Montfort’s outpatient physiotherapy service is offered exclusively at the Aline Chrétien Health Hub. The team provides assessment, education and treatment for musculoskeletal conditions in both English and French. Access requires a medical referral, and Montfort specifies that patients must be referred appropriately for the outpatient service.

Physiotherapy can play a role when patients need help improving:

The Hub’s rehabilitation model goes beyond simply having someone perform exercises with a patient. Education and self-management can be important parts of rehabilitation because long-term improvement often depends on what the person does between appointments and after formal therapy ends.

Patients should also understand that publicly funded outpatient physiotherapy programs have eligibility and referral requirements. Being located near the Hub does not mean someone can automatically book themselves into every rehabilitation service.

For those who qualify, however, providing rehabilitation in Orléans reduces the need to travel repeatedly to central Ottawa for ongoing appointments.

That matters because rehabilitation often involves multiple visits over weeks or months, making location and accessibility an important part of whether patients can realistically remain engaged in their treatment.

Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation

One of the Hub’s most important wellness-oriented clinical programs is Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation. Montfort states that this bilingual program is offered exclusively at the Aline Chrétien Health Hub and is designed to promote optimal health, active patient participation and better self-management for people with cardiovascular or pulmonary disease.

The program can be appropriate for people who have experienced cardiovascular disease, cardiac procedures or surgery, as well as those diagnosed with pulmonary conditions such as:

A physician referral is required.

What makes this program particularly relevant to the “wellness” part of the Hub’s mission is its focus on coaching and education in addition to clinical rehabilitation.

Chronic heart and lung conditions often require patients to make sustainable changes involving physical activity, symptom management, medication routines and general lifestyle. Rehabilitation therefore needs to help patients become more capable of managing their own health rather than making them permanently dependent on appointments.

Montfort also indicates that telehealth is available for this program in appropriate circumstances.

Patients should speak with their physician about eligibility instead of assuming that any cardiovascular or respiratory diagnosis automatically qualifies for participation.

Free Exercise Classes, Yoga and Community Wellness Programs

Not every program at the Hub is focused on diagnostic testing or specialist appointments. The Eastern Ottawa Resource Centre operates several free social and wellness services that help make the facility relevant to healthy aging and community well-being.

Current programs include friendly visiting, telephone assurance, group exercise and gentle yoga.

Group exercise sessions are specifically designed for seniors and people affected by Parkinson’s disease. The exercises emphasize strength, mobility and balance and include chair-based movements with some standing balance work. Current sessions at the Hub include separate programming for adults aged 60 and older and for people living with Parkinson’s disease. Registration is required.

Gentle Yoga Stretch is also available as a free program for seniors. The current schedule lists chair-yoga sessions at the Hub, incorporating exercises intended to support strength, balance, mobility and general self-care.

Other community wellness services include:

These services demonstrate that wellness is not limited to exercise.

For an older adult, regular social contact can be just as important to quality of life as movement. A health facility that combines clinical services with practical community programs can therefore address needs that traditional medical appointments often miss.

Mental Health, Psychology and Youth Counselling

Mental health support forms another important part of the Aline Chrétien Health Hub service mix.

The Youth Services Bureau of Ottawa operates a Youth and Family Counselling walk-in clinic at the Hub. The service provides single-session counselling appointments that allow young people or families to discuss a specific concern, explore strategies and, where needed, connect with longer-term counselling resources. Current Hub information lists the walk-in clinic on Thursdays from 12:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

That type of service can be valuable because not every problem immediately requires a lengthy therapy program. Sometimes a young person or family needs timely professional support to understand what is happening, identify practical next steps, or determine whether ongoing care is appropriate.

Clinical health psychology services are also associated with the Hub. Montfort’s program works with children, adolescents and families experiencing issues that can include:

These psychology services require a medical referral and can also be offered through telehealth in some circumstances.

The distinction between walk-in youth counselling and referred clinical psychology is important. They are not interchangeable services.

Someone needing immediate crisis intervention should also not assume the Hub functions as an emergency psychiatric department. Emergency situations require the appropriate emergency service.

CHEO Services for Children, Youth and Families

Access to pediatric care at the Hub expanded significantly when CHEO began providing services there in November 2024.

CHEO’s current partnership brings specialized child, youth and family services closer to families living in east Ottawa. The programs introduced at the Hub include social work, child development, mental health and school-based rehabilitation services.

This expansion matters because families requiring specialized pediatric services can face repeated appointments over extended periods. Travelling from Orléans to CHEO’s main campus for every appointment can add substantial transportation time, particularly for families balancing school, work and care for other children.

Providing selected CHEO services in Orléans can therefore improve access without attempting to duplicate every service available at CHEO’s hospital campus.

Families should understand that the Hub does not function as a complete replacement for CHEO. The services offered there are specific community and specialty programs. Acute pediatric emergencies, complex hospital-based procedures and many specialized programs continue to require care at other appropriate locations.

CHEO and Montfort have indicated that they are continuing to explore opportunities to expand pediatric services in Ottawa’s east end.

For parents, the practical approach is to follow the instructions provided by the child’s CHEO care team. If an appointment can be provided at the Hub, the referral or scheduling process will indicate the correct location.

Services for Seniors and Healthy Aging

Older adults often require several types of support simultaneously. A person may be medically stable but still need help maintaining mobility, managing chronic disease, staying socially connected or accessing geriatric expertise.

The Hub’s integrated structure is particularly relevant to those circumstances.

Hôpital Montfort identifies geriatric services among the referral-based services available through the Aline Chrétien Health Hub, while partner organizations include Geriatric Psychiatry Community Services of Ottawa, Bruyère, Ontario Health atHome and the Eastern Ottawa Resource Centre.

Community wellness services add another layer. The Eastern Ottawa Resource Centre currently offers exercise classes for adults aged 60 and older, chair yoga, friendly visiting and telephone reassurance from the Hub.

Those programs address several different aspects of aging:

The significance of integrating these programs is easy to underestimate.

Traditional health care often focuses on a specific diagnosis. An older adult’s real life may involve several diagnoses plus transportation challenges, loneliness, declining mobility and difficulty coordinating providers.

Bringing clinical and community services into one network cannot eliminate those problems, but it can reduce fragmentation.

Families caring for an older relative should still contact the relevant service directly to understand eligibility, referral requirements and whether a program has space available.

Post-Discharge Assessment Clinic

The Hub also plays an increasingly important role in keeping appropriate follow-up care outside the hospital.

Hôpital Montfort opened a Post-Discharge Assessment Clinic at the Aline Chrétien Health Hub in June 2024. The clinic was created to support selected patients after a visit to Montfort’s Emergency Department, helping stabilize them after discharge and potentially reducing unnecessary admissions or return trips to the hospital.

The clinic is not open for general self-booking.

Patients are referred following an appropriate visit to Hôpital Montfort’s Emergency Department and receive care by appointment.

The model addresses a real weakness in traditional emergency care. Some patients are well enough not to require hospitalization but still need timely reassessment. Without structured follow-up, they may remain in the Emergency Department longer, return when symptoms change, or potentially require admission.

Moving appropriate follow-up into the community gives the hospital another option.

The clinic can therefore help create a smoother transition between acute and ambulatory care.

Patients referred to it should follow the specific instructions given when their appointment is arranged, including any required blood tests or other preparation.

Anyone with a new medical emergency should not travel to this clinic expecting urgent treatment. Emergency symptoms still require appropriate emergency medical care.

Walk-In Services vs. Referral-Based Services

One of the most important things to understand before visiting the Hub is that access rules vary by service.

The Hub’s official appointment information explicitly states that some programs accept walk-ins, some allow self-referral, and others require referral by a physician or other health professional.

Examples of current access differences include:

Walk-in or relatively direct access

Referral required

This is why calling the main desk without first checking the specific service may not be enough.

The most efficient process is to identify exactly what service you need, review its access requirements, and then follow the instructions for that department.

The Hub Is Not an Emergency Department or Family Doctor Clinic

A frequent misunderstanding deserves a clear answer: the Aline Chrétien Health Hub is not a hospital emergency department and does not currently operate as a general family-physician walk-in clinic.

The Hub’s official appointment page explicitly states that there are no emergency services or family-physician clinics at the facility.

That distinction is crucial.

If someone is experiencing a potentially life-threatening emergency, they should use emergency medical services or go to an appropriate emergency department rather than travelling to the Hub.

Similarly, the presence of multiple specialists, imaging services and community providers does not mean people without a family physician can currently walk into the facility and obtain routine comprehensive primary care.

Montfort’s 2024–2028 strategic plan does include an objective to further optimize the Hub, including adding a clinic intended for patients without access to a family doctor. That is a future strategic objective, not something that should be confused with a guaranteed current walk-in family practice service as of August 2026.

This difference is important for accurate planning.

The Hub excels as an integrated outpatient and community-services location, but it is not designed to replace every level of the health-care system.

Location, Parking, Transit and Getting to the Hub

The Aline Chrétien Health Hub is located at:

2225 Mer-Bleue Road
Orléans, Ontario K4A 5M3
Phone: 613-288-5344

The facility is near the roundabout at Mer-Bleue Road and Brian Coburn Boulevard.

Patients and visitors can reach the site by car, taxi, OC Transpo, Para Transpo, bicycle or on foot. The Hub’s transportation information identifies nearby transit stops at Brian Coburn/Chaperal and Mer-Bleue/Hydro, with service associated with routes 30 and 302. Bicycle racks are available at multiple entrances.

Current laboratory information also confirms free parking at the Hub, with designated spaces available for Bio-Test laboratory users.

Because the building contains numerous services organized into separate wings, patients should look carefully at the location information attached to their appointment.

For example, different programs may direct patients to:

Arriving at the right building is only the first step.

Before leaving home, check:

For medical imaging appointments, some services specifically request that patients arrive 30 minutes before the scheduled examination.

Bilingual Care and the Hub’s Partnership Model

One of the most distinctive features of the Aline Chrétien Health Hub is its emphasis on integrated French- and English-language health services.

Montfort is Ontario’s Francophone academic hospital, and the Hub’s model was designed so that residents of Orléans and east Ottawa could access integrated programs in both official languages closer to where they live.

The current Montfort list of organizations connected with the Hub includes:

This partnership structure is the real foundation of the Hub.

Instead of asking one institution to become expert in every form of community care, specialized organizations bring their existing knowledge into a shared environment.

The potential benefit is better continuity.

A patient’s health needs do not naturally divide themselves according to organizational boundaries. Someone may require hospital care, rehabilitation, home support and community programming at different stages of the same health problem.

A collaborative model creates more opportunities for those providers to work as parts of one health journey rather than unrelated services.

That is ultimately what separates the Hub from a building that merely leases rooms to different clinics.

How the Aline Chrétien Health Hub Is Continuing to Grow

The Hub is not a finished concept frozen at its 2021 opening. Its service mix has continued expanding.

CHEO added specialized child and family programming in 2024. Montfort added the Post-Discharge Assessment Clinic during the same year. More recently, Montfort reported that annual activity at the Hub had grown to approximately 80,000 visits, excluding partner activity, an increase of 6,000 visits in a year.

Montfort’s strategic direction through 2028 includes further optimization of the facility, including plans to improve access for people who do not have a family physician.

The broader direction is clear: more care is being shifted toward community settings where appropriate rather than requiring every patient to receive every service inside a large hospital.

That makes sense for both patients and the health system.

Hospitals need to concentrate resources on patients requiring acute and complex hospital-level care. Community facilities can handle many diagnostic tests, rehabilitation visits, specialist consultations and follow-up programs more conveniently.

The Hub will therefore likely remain an increasingly important part of the east Ottawa health-care network.

Patients should still check current service pages rather than relying on older lists because programs, schedules and access procedures can evolve as the facility grows.

Final Thoughts

The Aline Chrétien Health Hub has become much more than a convenient satellite location for medical appointments. It represents an attempt to organize community health care around the needs of patients instead of expecting patients to navigate a collection of disconnected institutions.

Located at 2225 Mer-Bleue Road in Orléans, the Hub currently combines diagnostic imaging, laboratory services, rehabilitation, cardiovascular and pulmonary programs, mental-health care, youth counselling, pediatric services, geriatric support and free community wellness initiatives.

Its wellness programs are particularly useful because health is not treated entirely as something that begins after illness. Exercise classes, chair yoga, social connection and community support give older adults and other eligible residents opportunities to maintain mobility and well-being before problems become more severe.

The main limitation is equally important to understand: the Hub is not an emergency department or ordinary family doctor’s office. Access depends on the service. Some programs are walk-in, some accept self-referral, and many require medical referrals or scheduled appointments.

For residents of Orléans and east Ottawa, that still leaves a substantial benefit—more health services available locally, with several organizations working together under one roof.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is the Aline Chrétien Health Hub located?

The Aline Chrétien Health Hub is located at 2225 Mer-Bleue Road, Orléans, Ontario K4A 5M3, near Brian Coburn Boulevard. The main telephone number is 613-288-5344. Patients can reach the facility by car, public transit, Para Transpo, bicycle or on foot.

What services does the Aline Chrétien Health Hub offer?

The Hub provides a broad range of services including laboratory testing, X-rays, mammography, ultrasound, bone-density testing, specialist clinics, physiotherapy, cardiovascular and pulmonary rehabilitation, mental-health programs, youth and family counselling, geriatric services, pediatric programs and community wellness activities.

Does the Aline Chrétien Health Hub accept walk-ins?

Some services do, but the entire facility is not a walk-in clinic. Basic X-rays can currently be accessed without an appointment when the patient has a valid requisition, and Youth Services Bureau counselling has designated walk-in hours. Other programs require appointments, referrals or specific eligibility.

Does the Aline Chrétien Health Hub have an emergency department?

No. The Hub’s official information states that it does not have emergency services. Anyone experiencing a medical emergency should use the appropriate emergency-care system rather than travelling to the Hub for urgent treatment.

Are there free wellness programs at the Hub?

Yes. The Eastern Ottawa Resource Centre currently provides free programs including group exercise for seniors and people living with Parkinson’s disease, gentle chair yoga, friendly visiting and telephone reassurance. Registration is required for certain activities, and schedules can change.

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