an eight-year-old girl with severe arthritis lies in a tiny blue smock on a hospital daybed. Her mom stands to her right and a rheumatologist sits on her left carefully explaining the details of the upcoming procedure. This is the first time the young girl will undergo Cortisone joint injections. The procedure also includes a general anesthetic. Mom is nervous, little girl is calm and everything else is fairly routine except for the director, dop and sound guy hovering over and around the three real-life characters.

The bed is located in the corner of a day room, next to a window through which a load of natural light floods in. The room, although bright and cheered by friendly nurses and a Nintendo Fun Center, is lined with beds on which at least five other young patients lie listlessly, unfazed by the film crew that’s been there for three hours already. The unrelenting cries of a pained baby pierce through the hallway and serve as a kind of audio backsplash to the scene.

It’s a typical day at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children, where anything could happen at any moment, only today a three-piece film crew is there to capture it.

Welcome to the real-life set of Little Miracles, a 13-part, episodic, dramatic documentary series, ‘or whatever you prefer to call it, just don’t cheapen it by calling it a docusoap,’ exclaims director Barri Cohen, consulting editor of pov magazine.

Little Miracles, coproduced by Breakthrough Entertainment and HATASA-Wychwood Park Productions for $100,000 a half-hour, chronicles the ongoing stories of the ‘little miracles’ performed daily at the Hospital for Sick Children – from brain mapping and a cochlear implant to kidney and bone marrow transplants.

‘It’s about the big milestones on the side of the families, the emotions, the journeys, not the biological or the political,’ says Cohen.

It is the first time ever the hospital, the largest pediatric centre in North America, has granted permission for a film crew to shoot in all parts of the building.

‘We have total carte blanche, but if ever anyone objects to our shooting at any time, we’ve agreed that we will turn off the cameras immediately,’ says exec producer Ron Singer, who, inspired by a bbc docusoap on the Great Orman Street Hospital in London, persevered for close to three years to finally gain access to Sick Kids.

‘It’s so unusual for a children’s hospital to open its doors, I figured broadcasters and production companies would go `wow,’ that it would be really easy to pitch the project.’

And Singer was right. It wasn’t too soon after he and partner Elaine Waisglass got the contract last year (which promises the hospital a cut of the profits) that Breakthrough hopped on board and cbc agreed to finance a demo.

However, unable to decide where and when the series would appear, the pubcaster allowed the producers to give Life Network first window. Shortly after, in a quick twist of fate, the cbc wanted back in, so it settled graciously for second window.

With the camera playing the role of ‘third witness,’ the film, which started shooting in June and will continue through October, is being shot in close style with a handheld digicam.

‘It’s fluid. I have to figure out what’s going on in the moment, I’ve got to know what the drama is and find it,’ says dop Naomi Wise, who recently came off shooting the docuseries Urban Angels (Atlantic 2 Productions) at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto.

In the classic style of cinema verite, ‘it works best when the people you’re filming are so involved in what’s happening, you don’t even have to move the camera,’ she adds.

But unlike traditional doc style, because the series is episodic and many of the stories are ongoing, story arc planning is integral to the process.

Also, ‘many elements have to fall in place at once,’ says Cohen. For instance, recently the crew was waiting around the nicu and a call came in about a preemie with respiratory problems who was being helicoptered in from Markham, Ont. Immediately, the crew had to multiply and disperse to capture all the events as they happened. At the same time, the public affairs access expert had to get on the phone and find a way to get permission to shoot. ‘As they plan their rescue, we’re planning our coverage,’ says Cohen, who has access to four crews at any given time.

But perhaps what’s most uniquely progressive is that a unit therapist has been assigned to the crew to help them deal with the overwhelmingly emotional nature of the project.

Also on board are directors Katherine Gilday and Shelley Saywell, as well as dops Bongo, Don Purser and Robert Holmes.

Little Miracles, which truly and reflexively tests the limits of humanity, premiers on Life Sept. 20 at 8 p.m. and will be rebroadcast on cbc next fall.

Meantime, exec producer Ira Levy is in discussions with Discovery Health, the American Health Network and pbs for third- and fourth-window possibilities, while Singer is looking at developing a similar-style docuseries at the children’s hospital in San Diego.

With the aim of eventually hitting every major children’s hospital worldwide, Singer says, ‘it’s easy to see this as simple voyeurism, but there’s a value in making people aware of what [these hospitals] do – demystifying what goes on – giving exposure to organ donation and raising the profile of the hospital.’