Latest news with #VirtualHealthHub
Cision Canada
01-08-2025
- Health
- Cision Canada
Government of Canada expanding health care to more Indigenous communities
SASKATOON, SK, Aug. 1, 2025 /CNW/ - The Government of Canada is committed to helping small and medium-sized businesses transform their innovative ideas into real-world solutions, ensuring that communities from coast to coast to coast benefit from their creativity and ingenuity. Today, the Honourable Buckley Belanger, Secretary of State (Rural Development), announced that the Virtual Health Hub (VHH) has joined the Coordinated Accessible National (CAN) Health Network. Having invested $42 million in the CAN Health Network since 2019, the Government of Canada is pleased to see this new partnership help improve access to health care in Saskatchewan's remote, rural and northern communities. Secretary of State Belanger also announced that two new projects are being launched through the CAN Health Network and VHH. Virtual reality technology from Saskatchewan's Luxsonic Technologies will support faster, more accurate diagnoses in remote areas. Digital technology from Nova Scotia–based Virtual Hallway will enable family physicians to consult with specialists more quickly, improving access to expert care across the network. In the nearly five years since the CAN Health Network was established, it has successfully connected 99 Canadian businesses working in health technology with different orders of government across the country. It is enabling entrepreneurs across Canada to grow, while strengthening our universal health care system by encouraging homegrown innovation. Quotes "The CAN Health Network is critical for helping Canadian innovations grow and succeed. By connecting organizations like the Virtual Health Hub with homegrown companies such as Luxonic and Virtual Hallway, the CAN Health Network is not only advancing cutting-edge technology but also supporting Canadian businesses, helping create jobs and driving economic growth across the country." – The Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions "By investing in the CAN Health Network, we're doing two things at once: supporting Canadian businesses with smart new health care ideas, and helping patients get better care closer to home. The addition of the Virtual Health Hub will make it easier for rural, remote and Indigenous communities in Saskatchewan to access cutting-edge care. On behalf of the Government of Canada, I offer my congratulations to both teams on making it happen." – The Honourable Buckley Belanger, Secretary of State (Rural Development) "Universal, accessible and publicly funded health care is a point of pride for Canadians and underpins our economic strength. Health care innovation can not only improve patient outcomes and support health workers but also contribute to building a stronger Canada, where everyone, including people in Indigenous, remote and rural communities, has better access to care." – The Honourable Marjorie Michel, Minister of Health "This partnership with the Virtual Health Hub and the projects we're launching with Luxonic and Virtual Hallway show how Canadian-made innovation can drive economic growth and strengthen our communities. By bringing together organizations from across the country, we're building a stronger economy, creating jobs, supporting local industries and ensuring that technologies developed in Canada are helping Canadians, including those in rural and remote regions." – Dr. Dante Morra, Founder and Chair, CAN Health Network Quick facts The Government of Canada has invested $42 million since 2019 to support the growth and expansion of the Coordinated Accessible National (CAN) Health Network. Since its launch, the CAN Health Network has grown to include 50 Edges. Edges are health care operators, including health authorities and organizations. To date, the CAN Health Network has supported 99 innovative Canadian health care technology businesses. Under the initiative, 127 commercialization projects have been rolled out. As of April 25, 2025, 2,331 jobs have been created. The CAN Health Network has helped generate more than $698 million in revenue. Stay connected For easy access to government programs for businesses, download the Canada Business app.
CBC
21-03-2025
- Health
- CBC
Robots are helping doctors treat isolated patients in Saskatchewan's north
In Stony Rapids, Sask., about 80 km south of the border with the Northwest Territories, the Virtual Health Hub project is helping medical professionals in larger cities examine and treat patients in the fly-in community. It allows specialists to control robots remotely, assisting with everything from X-rays to ultrasounds from hundreds of kilometres away.
CBC
21-03-2025
- Health
- CBC
Robots in the hospital
How a Saskatchewan project is using innovative technology to provide health care to the most remote communities Brittany Olson, a licensed practical nurse, helps patient Daniel Powder get a telerobotic ultrasound at the Athabasca Health Authority Hospital near Stony Rapids, Sask. The sonographer conducting the ultrasound is in Saskatoon, controlling the probe through a Somers/CBC Alexandre Silberman Mar. 21, 2025 On a frigid –38 C March day in Saskatchewan's far north, Daniel Powder wasn't feeling well. His doctor, one of just two on call for a region of nearly 10,000 people, sent him for an ultrasound, an appointment that normally requires a costly two-hour flight south. But this time, he walked into the local hospital near Stony Rapids, about 800 kilometres north of Saskatoon, to get looked at by a robot. Through a screen, Powder met a sonographer in Saskatoon who controlled the machine's probe remotely with a computer. 'Rather than wait weeks for the results, you only wait two, three days,' Powder said. 'Technology is going a long way and I figured that was really something.' Your browser does not support the video tag. Pause The idea of seeing a doctor or health-care provider through a computer is gaining traction after the pandemic, and northern Saskatchewan is pioneering a new model of getting advanced care to isolated Indigenous communities. The Virtual Health Hub project is testing robotic devices for everything from X-rays to wound care, allowing patients like Powder to get proper treatment in their home communities. In the halls of the Athabasca Health Facility, a small hospital on the Black Lake Denesuline First Nation, remote robotics are already making a noticeable difference. The community is just 82 kilometres south of the Northwest Territories, and heavily reliant on medical air travel. Only the fringe of this vast isolated region is touched by a road, with the communities of Stony Rapids and Black Lake the farthest you can reach year-round by car. But the nearest major hospital — in Prince Albert — is about a 12-hour drive through 900 kilometres of wilderness, when the road is passable. images expand The area has five doctors on rotation, but only one working at the hospital and another making community visits at any given time. They're supported by a medic, a registered nurse, a licensed practical nurse and a care aid. There's a five-bed emergency room and four long-term care beds, but as soon as a patient's needs surpass what the staff can handle, they're sent south. Pregnant women are also sent south to Prince Albert to deliver their babies. Your browser does not support the video tag. Pause 'If they're going to Saskatoon to have a little one or, you know, maybe they're sick, they need their support system,' said Brittany Olson, a licensed practical nurse working as a virtual care assistant. She's Cree and primarily works in the Whitecap Dakota Nation near Saskatoon, but was filling in at the Stony Rapids hospital on the day of Powder's appointment. 'So being able to provide care within the community, they could have their support system here.' An average of 600 people are travelling south for medical appointments each month, many of them for short appointments, according to hospital staff. Specialists are hard to come by in the north, with many flying in for one day a month — if the flight doesn't get cancelled due to bad weather. It comes at a steep cost. The Saskatchewan government spends more than $100 million per year on transporting patients from remote northern Indigenous communities. The project is training people like Olson to work as care assistants in remote communities, becoming the link between patients and specialists in major cities. Your browser does not support the video tag. Pause Olson describes her role as the physician's 'hands and ears' during a virtual visit, moving around devices and sensors to help a specialist gather data on a patient. 'I think this is going to be a game-changer for all remote, rural, isolated communities,' she said. 'We're bringing the services to the community and providing them with the care that everybody deserves. So you have very good outcomes. For one, you have quicker diagnosing and treating of the patient's conditions. And just overall, the health outcome for this person has significantly increased.' In Saskatoon, an office acts as a type of futuristic command centre for virtual care. A row of robots, designed to drive around hospitals, line one wall. There are smaller rooms for sonographers and other professionals to connect virtually with patients. A team is testing cutting-edge devices, including a low-level radiation X-ray machine that enhances images with artificial intelligence and sensors that plug into a tablet. The next experiment could be drone deliveries of blood test samples and medication. Dr. Ivar Mendez, the director of the Virtual Health Hub, said his research has shown that with the right technology, about 70 per cent of patients in remote locations can be treated in their own communities. 'We will be able to do your electrocardiogram, your chest X-ray, your cardiac enzymes and all the laboratory work that will allow the physician to understand if you actually have a heart attack or you can be managed in their own community,' he said. 'Although the savings are important, the crucial thing is that we were able to provide timely care to these patients. And of course, that is what the importance of this is — saving lives and improving the outcomes.' The next step is the construction of a larger, centralized command centre for the health hub, set to open in Whitecap Dakota Nation in late 2026. It will allow for 30 communities in Saskatchewan to have remote screening technology, with plans for further expansion. Whitecap Chief Darcy Bear said he's excited to see Indigenous communities leading the way on a health-care solution. He expects it will quickly expand to non-Indigenous communities beyond Saskatchewan. 'You're going to see that this is a better way of living health care, providing health care to all Canadians and we're very proud that it's First Nation driven. It's Indigenous driven,' he said. Mendez hopes the remote model will address a long-standing disparity in northern Indigenous communities, which have higher rates of mortality, tuberculosis, heart attacks, diabetes and high blood pressure. 'It's a big, big problem that really needs to be addressed. And that is why we're working on this new model, because the models of the past have not been able to address these issues,' he said. 'I really believe that technology can narrow this gap of inequity in the delivery of health care, not only in Saskatchewan, in Canada, but globally.' About the Author Footer Links My Account Profile CBC Gem Newsletters Connect with CBC Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram Mobile RSS Podcasts Contact CBC Submit Feedback Help Centre Audience Relations, CBC P.O. 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