Admission Requirements

To be eligible to stay at Hamilton’s Ronald McDonald House families should:

• Be parents/guardians of a child receiving medical treatment at a local area hospital
• Live a minimum of 45 minutes away from the House
• Have a referral  from hospital staff (social worker, nurse, chaplain or doctor) for first-time visits
• Have a child being treated who is 21 years of age or younger

Guests are not admitted based on their financial need. Rather they are admitted based on the medical condition of the child as it falls under the RMH priority system  and the distance of their home from the hospital.

Siblings and other family members may accompany the parents of the ill child. Only one room per family is allocated.

Anyone who is suffering from or who has recently been exposed to a communicable illness cannot be admitted (including family members with a cold or the flu). This policy is vital in minimizing risk to children with weakened immune systems.