Company:NORTH Network

NORTH Network

NORTH Network was a telehealth organization serving communities in Northern and Central Ontario. NORTH's head office was located in Toronto and its clinical headquarters in Timmins. NORTH was a program of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, and received funding from the provincial government's Ministry of Health and Long Term Care.

NORTH Network's name is an acronym which stands for the Northern Ontario Remote Telehealth Network.

As of April 1, 2006 NORTH Network merged with Ontario's two other regional telehealth service providers (Videocare (Southwestern Ontario) and Careconnect (Eastern Ontario) to form the Ontario Telemedicine Network.

Mandate and Operations

NORTH provided patients in rural and under-serviced communities access to specialized medical care using videoconferencing and other tele-diagnostic equipment. Specialists remotely examined and prescribed treatment to patients in their home communities.

NORTH also connected healthcare professionals and students in the north to educational programmes, and delivered healthcare-related administrative services to its member organizations.

At the time of its integration into the Ontario Telemedicine Network, NORTH was facilitating over 2,000 clinical consultations each month and an additional 500 educational and administrative events. NORTH was the busiest telehealth programme in Canada, and may have been the largest network of its kind in the world. Its size and volumes have increased significantly since forming a province-wide network. More than 2,000 physicians and other allied health professionals used the Network, which linked more than 226 sites in more than 120 communities across Ontario.

History

The NORTH telehealth network began as an experiment undertaken by the Harris government from a 1995 OMA study to compensate for hospital funding cutbacks, and doctor shortages. The study examined how telemedicine could improve access to health care for citizens of rural and remote Ontario. As a network of providers who shared information about difficult, or difficult to diagnose or difficult to treat patients, the project was able to empower physicians treating their patients at arms length via information-sharing.

Launched in six sites in 1998, NORTH Network experienced a significant expansion between 2001 and 2003, thanks to funding from Health Canada's Canadian Health Infostructure Partnerships Program (CHIPP).

The original sites involved in the project included: Timmins and District Hospital (Timmins), Lady Minto Hospital (Cochrane), Kirkland and District Hospital (Kirkland Lake), Sudbury Regional Hospital (Sudbury), Sunnybrook and Women's College Hospital (Toronto), and the Hospital for Sick Children (Toronto), all in Ontario, Canada.

Dr. Barry McLellan was one of the original proponents of the NORTH project, leaving his position as medical director of the North network to become Coroner for Northeastern Ontario.

Members

(Member list accurate as of March 30, 2006.)

Hospitals

• Atikokan General Hospital
• Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care
• Blind River District Health Centre
• Brantford General Hospital
• Bridgepoint Health
• Campbellford & District Community Mental Health Centre
• Campbellford Memorial Hospital
• Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
• College St. Site
• Queen St. Site
• Russell St. Site
• Chapleau Health Services
• Collingwood General & Marine Hospital
• Credit Valley Hospital
• Dryden Regional Health Centre
• Englehart & District Hospital
• Espanola General Hospital
• Geraldton District Hospital
• Guelph General Hospital
• Haliburton Highlands Health Services
• Haliburton Site
• Minden Site
• Hamilton Health Sciences Centre
• Chedoke Campus
• General Hospital Site
• Henderson Campus
• Juravinski Cancer Centre
• McMaster Children's Hospital
• McMaster University Campus
• Headwaters Health Care Centre
• Hornepayne Community Hospital
• Hospital for Sick Children (The)
• Huronia District Hospital
• James Bay General Hospital
• Kirkland and District Hospital
• Lady Dunn Health Centre
• Lake of the Woods District Hospital
• Lakeridge Health
• Beaverton Thorah Health Centre
• Bowmanville
• Oshawa
• Port Perry New Life Centre
• Whitby
• Manitoulin Health Centre
• Little Current Site
• Mindemoya Site
• Manitouwadge General Hospital
• Mattawa General Hospital
• McCausland Hospital
• Meno-Ya-Win Health Centre
• 5th Avenue Site
• 7th Avenue Site
• M.I.C.'s Group of Health Services
• Anson General Hospital
• Bingham Memorial Hospital
• Lady Minto Hospital
• Mount Sinai Hospital
• Muskoka-East Parry Sound Health Services
• Burk's Falls & District Health Centre
• Huntsville District Memorial Hospital
• South Muskoka Memorial Hospital
• Niagara Health System
• Greater Niagara General Site
• Niagara-on-the-Lake Hospital Site
• Port Colborne General Site
• St. Catharines General Site
• Welland Hospital Site
• Nipigon District Memorial Hospital
• North Bay and District Hospital
• North York General Hospital
• Northumberland Hills Hospital
• Notre Dame Hospital
• Penetanguishene General Hospital
• Penetanguishene Mental Health Centre
• Peterborough Regional Health Centre
• Riverside Health Care Facilities
• LaVerendrye Health Care Centre
• Rainy River Health Care Centre
• Red Lake Margaret Cochenour Memorial Hospital

Educational and Community Organizations

• Cambrian College of Applied Arts & Technology
• The Canadian Hearing Society
• Canadian Institute for Health Information
• Canadian Mental Health Association (The)
• Cancer Care Ontario
• CCAC of the District of Thunder Bay
• CCAC for Kenora & Rainy River Districts
• Dryden Site
• Fort Frances Site
• Kenora Site
• Centre for Mountain Health Services
• Centre for Movement Disorders
• Cochrane District Community Care Access Centre
• College of Physicians & Surgeons of Ontario
• Community Care Access Centre of the District of Thunder Bay
• Dryden and District Association for Community Living
• Ear Falls Community Health Centre
• George Jeffrey Children's Centre
• Group Health Centre - Sault Ste. Marie
• Health Sciences North
• Institute for Safe Medication Practices Inc.
• Laurentian University - School of Nursing
• Mary Berglund Community Health Centre
• McMaster University
• Department of Family Medicine
• Faculty of Health Sciences
• Michael DeGroote Centre for Learning
• Mohawk Site
• Northeast Mental Health Centre
• North Bay Psychiatric Hospital
• Northeastern Ontario Medical Education Corporation
• Northern Ontario School of Medicine
• N.W.O. Infection Control Network
• Ontario Addiction Treatment Centres
• Richmond Hill Site
• Thunder Bay Site
• Ornge
• Ontario Hospital Association
• Ontario Medical Association
• Pioneer Manor
• Rural Ontario Medical Program
• Sioux Lookout & Hudson Association for Community Living
• St. Joseph's Villa
• St. Joseph's Care Group
• Heritage Site
• Hogarth Riverview Manor
• Rehab/ Chronic Pain Mngt. Site
• Sister Margaret Smith Centre
• Surrey Place Centre
• University of Toronto - Faculty of Medicine

Public Health

• Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox, & Addington Health Unit
• Middlesex-London Health Unit
• North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit
• Regional Niagara Public Health unit
• Thunder Bay District Health Unit

Teleprimary Care Sites with collaborating family physicians

• Apsley Medical Centre
• Argyle Nursing Station
• Britt Nursing Station
• Havelock - Belmont - Methuen Health Centre
• Keene Health Centre
• Kerr, L. (Dr.)
• McMullen, W. (Dr.)
• Medical Associates Physicians Clinic
• NorWest Community Health Centre
• Armstrong Site
• Longlac Site
• Thunder Bay Site
• Pointe au Baril Nursing Station
• Registered Nurses Association of Ontario
• Rosseau Nursing Station
• Whitestone & Area Nursing Station
• Wright Clinic

Government

• Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services
• Central East Correctional Centre
• Monteith Correctional Facility
• Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care
• Emergency Management Unit
• Central Local Health Integration Network - Markham
• Central East Local Health Integration Network - Ajax
• Central West Local Health Integration Network - Brampton
• Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant Local Health Integration Network - Grimsby
• North Simcoe Muskoka Local Health Integration Network - Orillia
• North East Local Health Integration Network - North Bay
• North West Local Health Integration Network - Thunder Bay
• Toronto Central Local Health Integration Network - Toronto

Keewaytinook Okimakanak Telehealth

• Bearskin Lake First Nation
• Beausoleil First Nation Health Centre
• Big Trout Lake Nursing Station
• Cat Lake First Nations Health Authority
• Deer Lake Nursing Station
• Eabametoong First Nation
• Emily Anderson Memorial Nursing Station
• Fort Severn Nursing Station
• Judas & Emily Winter Memorial Clinic
• Keewaytinook Okimakanak Northern Chiefs Council
• Keewaytinook Okimakanak Telehealth
• Keewaywin Nursing Station
• Kingfisher Lake Nursing Station
• Lac Seul First Nation
• Nellie Fiddler Memorial Health Centre
• Neskantaga Nursing Station
• New Osnaburgh Nursing Station
• Nibinamik First Nation
• Nodin CFI- Sioux Lookout First Nations Health Authority
• North Spirit Lake Nursing Station
• Pikangikum First Nation
• Poplar Hill Nursing Station
• Sachigo Lake First Nation
• Sandy Lake Nursing Station
• Sena Memorial Nursing Station
• Shibogama First Nations Council
• Sioux Lookout Diabetes Program
• Slate Falls First Nation
• Webequie First Nation
• Wunnumin Lake Nursing Station