GTA hospitals announce strategic IT partnership

TORONTO – North York General Hospital (NYGH) and Michael Garron Hospital (MGH) are creating a Joint Chief Information Officer (CIO) role to leverage the combined expertise, experience and purchasing power between the two organizations.

Sumon Acharjee (pictured), current CIO of NYGH, will take on the role of Joint CIO. Sumon has had an 18-year career in a variety of progressive IT leadership roles in both the public and private sectors. At NYGH he has led the development and overseen implementation of a comprehensive, multi-year eHealth Strategy as a critical enabler of the hospital’s corporate strategy.

Prior to joining NYGH, as CIO of Sheridan College, Sumon demonstrated the strategic value of IT and drove the implementation of highly innovative solutions and partnerships to support the Sheridan community, in collaboration with internal and external stakeholders. Sumon holds a Master’s in Business Administration from Wilmington University and a Bachelor of Mathematics from the University of Waterloo.

Both NYGH and MGH are among a handful of Canadian hospitals to attain Stage 6 of the HIMSS 7-stage model for adoption of electronic medical records. MGH is a leader in the advancement of its IT system for patient care and its implementation of Hospital Report Manager, My Chart and Connecting Ontario that improve health information access for patients and community providers.

“We take great pride in the investments we have made in our electronic patient record and IT systems. NYGH has long been a trusted partner of ours and we look forward to strengthening our collaboration to improve access to health information,” said Sarah Downey, president and CEO, Michael Garron Hospital.

NYGH recently became the first acute care hospital in Canada to win with the prestigious HIMSS Davies Award of Excellence for its implementation of electronic evidence-based order sets, fully integrated with its electronic medical record system, known as eCare. The Davies Award recognizes outstanding achievement of organizations who have used health information technology to substantially improve patient outcomes and value.

“Even with the tremendous benefits we have realized to date with eCare, we are always seeking opportunities to innovate and advance our systems to further enhance the quality care we provide,” said Tim Rutledge, president and CEO, North York General Hospital. “Partnering with MGH will allow us to more effectively utilize highly specialized resources and learnings to accomplish our shared IT goals.”

MGH and NYGH both use Cerner Millenium as their core electronic medical record and health information system (HIS). Through a Joint CIO, the hospitals will plan the future of their HIS platforms together, as recognized leaders in the use of Cerner, in line with the provincial HIS Renewal Advisory Panel’s direction to consolidate health information systems across Ontario.

The exceptional IT and clinical informatics teams will collaborate more closely and learn from each other, as they advance the eHealth strategies of both organizations. As MGH and NYGH continue to build and invest in their future IT infrastructure and application needs together, they will also seek opportunities to standardize solutions and generate economies of scale in acquiring and supporting new technologies.