PointClickCare Wins Award for Best EHR
PointClickCare has been named the best electronic health record solution in the 2026 MedTech Breakthrough Awards, chosen from over 4,000 global nominations. The ONC‑certified platform serves more than 30,000 provider organizations across skilled‑nursing, senior‑living, and physician practice groups, delivering AI‑infused workflows that streamline admissions, transitions, and daily care. New AI‑powered modules such as Ambient Scribe, Discharge Intel, and Referral Advisor extend the system’s capabilities for practice groups and senior‑living communities. The recognition highlights PointClickCare’s growing influence in post‑acute care technology.
Fraser Health Named Runner-Up in Gartner Awards
Fraser Health’s Centre for Advanced Analytics, Data Science and Innovation (CAADSI) earned runner‑up status in the 2025 Gartner Eye on Innovation Awards for its AI‑enabled decision‑intelligence platform. The system combines daily demand forecasting, scenario simulation and scheduling optimization to support...
Funding AI and Quantum Tech in BC
The Canadian government, via PacifiCan, is investing roughly US$12.8 million in eight British Columbia tech firms to fast‑track AI and quantum commercialization. Human in Motion Robotics receives US$2.2 million to integrate AI into its XoMotion exoskeleton, while Dream Photonics gets US$0.86 million for...
$62.3M for eHealth Sask Upgrades Not Enough?
eHealth Saskatchewan has secured up to $62.3 million CAD (≈$45 million USD) for system upgrades over the next three fiscal years, targeting data‑center hardware, Windows 10 migration and new security tools. The funding follows the 2019 Ryuk ransomware attack that compromised more than...
Infoway Fires Michael Green Amid E-Prescribe Fiasco
Canada Health Infoway’s board abruptly terminated CEO Michael Green after the PrescribeIT e‑prescribing platform collapsed, despite receiving roughly US$220 million in federal funding. Launched in 2017 to replace faxed prescriptions, the system saw less than 5 % adoption and is slated to...
Southlake Offers New Model of Care with Satellite Facilities
Southlake Health has issued a request for expressions of interest to develop an advanced care centre in Georgina, part of its newly endorsed Distributed Health Network (DHN) vision. The DHN will add community‑based facilities to two existing hospitals, aiming to...
Quebec May Not Standardize on Epic Province-Wide
Quebec’s health ministry has halted plans to adopt Epic Systems for a province‑wide electronic health record, citing soaring costs and privacy worries. The two pilot projects slated for May 9 now cost roughly $298 million USD, up from an initial $196 million...
Lime Health Secures $1M in Funding for Emilia
Lime Health, a Quebec‑based B Corp, closed a CAD$1 million financing round (≈ $740,000 USD) backed by private investors, Desjardins’ Startup in Residence program, and the Business Development Bank of Canada. The capital will accelerate commercialization of Emilia, an AI‑driven mobile app that...
GenAI Already a Major Component of Care Delivery
A CSA Group report authored by Will Falk argues that Canada must accelerate supervised adoption of generative AI in healthcare. The paper cites current clinician use for documentation and patient‑facing tools for explanation and navigation. It warns that delaying implementation...
CDS Expert Vigilance Santé Acquires MedSafer
Vigilance Santé, a Canadian clinical decision‑support leader, announced its first-ever acquisition of Quebec‑based MedSafer. The deal adds a scientifically validated deprescribing platform, proven in a 5,698‑patient trial, to Vigilance’s existing medication‑management suite. By integrating MedSafer’s tools, Vigilance aims to help...
Winner Announced for Cancer Screening Challenge
MaRS Discovery District and the Canadian Cancer Society announced Gateway Centre of Excellence in Rural Health as the grand‑prize winner of the Rural and Remote Community Cancer Screening Challenge. The Ontario‑based nonprofit received a $100,000 prize (≈US$73,000) to expand its...
Former Tesla President Offers Innovation Tips
At the HIMSS conference, former Tesla president John McNeill outlined a repeatable innovation framework that starts with defining problems, setting bold goals, questioning every assumption and simplifying processes before introducing technology. He illustrated the method with Tesla’s 2015 turnaround, where...
Digital Twin Technology Helps Reduce ED Wait Times
Erie Shores HealthCare’s emergency department in Leamington, Ontario cut its average time to initial physician assessment by more than 40%, dropping from 7.7 hours to 4.5 hours, after deploying SiMLQ’s digital‑twin platform. The solution combines simulation, machine‑learning and queuing theory...
Peterborough Regional Health Makes AI Push, Rolls Out Peregrine
Peterborough Regional Health Centre is launching Peregrine, an AI‑powered data platform built on Microsoft Fabric and Copilot. The system unifies more than 18 clinical and administrative data sources, giving clinicians real‑time insights for decision‑making. Early use has already reshaped orthopedic...
Nfld and Labrador Health Services Charts Path to Near-Zero No-Shows
Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services partnered with Canadian‑based TxtSquad to replace one‑way reminders with two‑way texting and AI‑driven voice outreach. The pilot quickly expanded to over 30 clinics, managing more than 20,000 appointments for 70,000 patients and driving no‑show rates...
Change Management: GenAI and CDS Are Already Accepted by Clinicians
Since its commercial launch in November 2022, generative AI has moved from novelty to mainstream in Canadian health care. A CMA‑CFIB survey shows 28 % of physicians using ambient scribe tools and OpenEvidence reports 34 % adoption of second‑screen decision‑support apps. Clinicians are...
Opal Platform Transitions to Open-Source Software, Seeks Partners
Opal, a patient‑information platform developed at McGill’s RI‑MUHC, will be released as open‑source software in 2025 after the health centre ended support amid Quebec’s province‑wide EHR rollout. The transition positions Opal as a Canadian, patient‑in‑the‑loop digital health infrastructure that leverages...
Implementing Cross-Agency Care Coordination Case Management Solutions
Canada’s Connected Care for Canadians Act mandates health‑information interoperability, and VitalHub is piloting a Mental Health and Addictions Information Exchange (MHAIE) in the Waterloo‑Wellington region. The three‑phase project begins with a shared client‑consent record, expands to service data sharing, and...
Hospital Capacity: The Missing Link Between Planning and Delivery
Hospitals often appear to have sufficient staffing on paper, but fragmented communication creates a "coordination gap" that erodes real capacity. The gap forces clinicians to spend time locating colleagues, routing calls, and reconciling schedules, which delays care and adds cognitive...
The Opportunity for Connected Care with Digital Health Never Better
The Connected Care for Canadians Act (Bill S‑5) pushes Canada to eliminate data blocking and require real‑time sharing of clinically relevant information into a national, shared electronic health record (EHR). The author argues that the 2006 EHRS Blueprint must be...
Digital Solutions for Therapists Navigating Billing and Insurance Claims
Therapists are increasingly hampered by manual billing and fragmented claims processes that drain time and delay reimbursements. In Canada, physicians collectively lose 18.5 million hours each year to unnecessary administrative work, a problem that is especially acute in mental‑health practices. Modern...
Lakeridge and Partners Go Live on Sectra Cloud
Lakeridge Health and six regional partners have launched Sectra One Cloud, a cloud‑based diagnostic imaging platform that unifies access to X‑rays, CT scans and MRIs across 13 sites in Ontario’s Central East Region. The system handles roughly one million imaging...
Purkinje Acquires LeoMed Technologies
Purkinje announced the acquisition of LeoMed Technologies, a virtual‑care platform that enables hospital‑at‑home and post‑surgical follow‑up services. The deal expands Purkinje’s digital health suite, allowing tighter integration of clinical information and streamlined patient transitions from hospital to home. By combining...
Drummondville Docs Express Doubts About Quebec EHR
Fourteen of the sixteen internists in Drummondville have warned that Quebec's Digital Health Record (DHR) rollout could jeopardize patient safety and disrupt clinical workflows. They petitioned the CIUSSS of Mauricie‑and‑Centre‑du‑Québec to delay the May 9 launch, citing inadequate equipment and training....
AGE-WELL Creates AI & Aging Council
AGE-WELL has launched an AI & Aging Council to steer the responsible development and governance of artificial intelligence for Canada’s aging population. The council brings together leaders from industry, academia, care organizations, older adults and caregivers to advise on AI...
VHA Launches AI-Driven Client Portal
VHA Home HealthCare has added the Evha AI Assistant to its myVHA client portal, offering real‑time navigation and service information. The tool answers questions about portal use, VHA programs, and caregiver support while adhering to strict AI governance. VHA’s leadership...
Michael Dell Funds ‘AI Native’ Medical Centre with $750M
Billionaires Michael and Susan Dell have pledged a $750 million gift to the University of Texas at Austin to create the UT Dell Medical Center, slated to open in 2030 as the nation’s first “AI‑native” hospital. The donation, the largest ever...
Barrie’s RVH Acquires EBUS for Lung Exams
Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre in Barrie has launched Endobronchial Ultrasound (EBUS) with Rapid On‑Site Evaluation (ROSE), a minimally invasive day procedure for lung and lymph‑node assessment. The addition expands the hospital’s endoscopy suite with a fourth procedure room, boosting...
Problems with Robotic Knee Replacement: Study
A population‑based study from Sunnybrook examined 75,000 total knee arthroplasties in Ontario between 2019 and 2023, including 1,613 robotic‑assisted procedures. The analysis found a major complication rate of 2.0% for robotic‑assisted surgery versus 1.0% for conventional techniques. Robotic cases also...
Newfoundland Revises Approach to EHR Deployment
Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services (NLHS) has softened its rollout of the Epic‑based CorCare electronic health record, making participation optional for physicians and easing liability clauses tied to cyber‑breaches. The province will still launch the system province‑wide on April 25,...
Expect Glitches with New, Quebec EHR, Chief Says
Quebec's health authority Santé Québec will launch the province‑wide Digital Health Record (DSN) on May 9, using Epic Systems as the primary vendor. CEO Geneviève Biron warned that minor technical glitches and a surge in support tickets are normal during the first...
Amplify Care Offers AI Cybersecurity Training
Amplify Care has launched an "AI and Cybersecurity" course within its Shield Training program, aimed at Canadian physicians navigating AI‑driven clinical systems. The offering combines expert‑led instruction with up to 12.5 Mainpro+ continuing education credits, addressing a sector where 64%...
Humber River Health Receives $50 Million Gift
Humber River Health announced a $50 million (≈ $37 million USD) donation from Jay and Barbara Hennick, prompting the Wilson site to be renamed Hennick Humber Hospital. The gift, one of Canada’s largest to a community hospital, will fund advanced technologies, research, education and...
Alberta Aims for Diagnostic Tests without Referral
Alberta Health Minister Adriana LaGrange introduced legislation that would let residents pay to bypass a doctor referral for diagnostic tests such as CT scans, MRIs and blood work. The bill is framed as a capacity‑building measure that complements, not replaces,...
$1 Million Gift Advances Healthy Aging Research at OTU
Ontario Tech University has received a $1 million CAD (≈$740,000 USD) donation from the Sienna for Seniors Foundation to launch the Sienna Senior Living Research Centre for Healthy Aging and Happiness. The centre will pursue applied, human‑centred research across three pillars: enhancing...
Novari Referral System to Be Used Across Ontario
Novari Health, a VitalHub subsidiary, has secured a multi‑year agreement with Ontario to roll out its cloud‑based central intake and referral management platform across the province. The deployment is part of Ontario’s Patients Before Paperwork initiative, which aims to streamline...
Bilingual Digital Innovation Supported at Montfort Hospital
Canada’s federal government has committed just over CAD 815,000 (≈ US $603,000) to expand the Montfort Innovation Lab at Institut du Savoir Montfort. The funding will enable up to 20 digital‑health companies to test and commercialize technologies with access to clinicians, research expertise,...
Feds Pump $48M Into New Health R&D Centre
The Canadian federal government is allocating $48 million CAD (≈$35 million USD) to Providence Healthcare’s Clinical Support & Research Centre (CSRC) in Vancouver, creating an advanced innovation hub. The hub will house a Clinical Trials Unit, an XR‑enabled Simulation Centre, a Health...
ED Serving Double the Patients It Was Designed For
The emergency department at Michael Garron Hospital in Toronto is now treating more than 300 patients a day—double the 150‑patient capacity it was built for 30 years ago. Annual visits jumped to about 107,000, far exceeding the original design target...
Phone Follow-Ups Smoothe Transitions Home
A Fraser Health study of more than 7,000 high‑risk patients found that nurse‑led telephone follow‑ups 48 hours after discharge reduced short‑term emergency department visits. The intervention lowered 7‑day ED returns by roughly 28% and 30‑day returns by 12% after adjusting...
Quebec Drops Many ER Stats From Public Dashboard
Since Santé Québec assumed control of Quebec's health‑care dashboard in February, it has stripped away most emergency‑room (ER) performance targets and key overcrowding indicators that were previously public. The removal eliminates visual cues such as the red‑dotted line that showed...
Search Begins for New CEO of Nova Scotia Health
Nova Scotia Health announced that interim CEO Karen Oldfield will remain in place while a multi‑month search for a permanent chief is launched. Health Minister Michelle Thompson said the government will not reinstate a governing board during the transition and...
Virtual ERs Working for Rural Alberta: Study
Alberta Health Services' Virtual Emergency Physician (VEP) program, launched in early 2025, connects off‑site emergency doctors with rural emergency departments lacking on‑site coverage. In the first six months, virtual physicians covered 229 shifts (about 3,000 hours), treated roughly 1,150 low‑acuity...
Donors Provide $5.75M to Cross-Sector Think-Tank
McGill University has launched the Initiative for Transforming Healthcare (ITH), a cross‑sector think‑tank aimed at tackling Canada’s mounting health‑system pressures. The effort unites the Desautels Faculty of Management, the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, and the Max Bell School...
FirstHX Offers Ambient Scribe that Doesn’t Guess
FirstHx Corp. launched ARIS, a next‑generation ambient scribe that injects clinician‑grade patient history into the AI workflow before the encounter begins. By gathering structured data from patients ahead of time, ARIS provides the contextual foundation that eliminates the hallucinations typical...
Announcing NIHI – McMaster Spring Courses
The National Institutes of Health Informatics (NIHI) and McMaster University Continuing Education are launching a series of micro‑courses for healthcare professionals in spring 2026. Two flagship offerings are "Leadership in Health Care: Change Leadership" (April 15‑June 10) and "Effective Dashboards for Health...
Partners Aim to Improve Remote Monitoring
CHAH AI Care and Quoted Tech have formed a strategic partnership to launch the CHAD AI Support Hub, an AI‑powered remote monitoring system for seniors and medically complex patients in Canada. The first batch of 50 hubs will be deployed...
6 UK Hospitals Partner with SickKids AI Program
Six leading UK NHS paediatric hospitals have signed a memorandum of understanding with Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children to join its SKAI artificial intelligence program. The partnership creates a two‑way exchange of AI models, expertise, and clinical training aimed at...
Hawkesbury Conducts Surgery with J&J Robot
Hawkesbury and District General Hospital performed its first surgery using Johnson & Johnson’s VELYS Robotic‑Assisted Solution, led by orthopedic surgeon Dr. Simon Garceau. The system delivers millimetre‑level precision, which can lessen tissue trauma, postoperative pain and inflammation. Hospital executives highlighted...
$5M Gift to UHN Supports Cancer Care
Bank of Montreal (BMO) has pledged a $5 million CAD (approximately $3.7 million USD) donation to University Health Network (UHN) to fund the new Surgical Tower at Toronto Western Hospital and expand PMATCH, an AI‑driven precision‑oncology platform at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre....