Hospitals want AI extended to non-academic sites

OTTAWA – The Queensway Carleton Hospital (QCH) is leading a plea for funding from the provincial government to help implement AI healthcare tools. A new submission to the province during 2026 pre-budget consultations calls for an initial injection of $15 million over three years to establish a “Health Technologies Innovation Transition Fund.”

The purpose of the proposed fund is to support non-academic and rural Ontario hospitals in covering the costs that come with adopting Ontario-made and Canadian-owned technologies.

“Using artificial intelligence, we are able to take numbers that are recorded from nursing staff, like blood pressure, the rate that you’re breathing, your pulse rate and predict, using predictive analysis, which changes may well represent a sinister turn of events for that patient,” Dr. Andrew Falconer (pictured), president & CEO of the QCH, told CTV News.

“Some of these technologies actually will survey the patients that are in the waiting room and help detect signs that somebody is deteriorating while waiting in the emergency waiting room.”

That information allows staff to give more urgent care to patients in dire need.

Falconer says the hospital is currently at 120 percent capacity, forcing staff to treat patients in “unconventional spaces,” including hallways and dining rooms.

Signal 1 and Hero AI are the two AI tools identified in the hospital’s submission to the province during pre-budget consultations. Both are Canadian companies.

“They will allow us for more efficient use of scheduling for outpatient procedures, surgeries, and diagnostic imaging, which will allow us to get a better bang for our buck,” said Falconer.

“These technologies have existed in larger centres in the province of Ontario for a couple of years now. So, it is relatively new, but it is tried and tested in large academic centres, and I feel it’s time that we’re able to deploy these technologies in community hospitals and small rural hospitals.”

Along with Falconer on behalf of the QCH, the co-signatories of the submission to the province include the presidents and CEOs of the following hospitals and groups:

• Mississippi River Health Alliance (includes Almonte General and Carleton Place hospitals)
• Deep River & District Hospital
• Renfrew Victoria Hospital and St. Francis Memorial Hospital
• Pembroke Regional Hospital
• Life Sciences Ontario
• Ontario Bioscience Innovation Organization
• Medtech Canada

Queensway Carleton Hospital looking to expand
On top of the request for funding to implement AI healthcare tools, the QCH is also hoping the province will set aside money to support the expansion of the west-Ottawa hospital.

“Our emergency department was built to see 63,000 patients per year. We’re currently seeing north of 83,000 and that’s projected to grow to 100,000 by 2028-29,” Falconer said.

“We know this is only going to get worse. So, we are looking for an expansion of our emergency department and inpatient unit, but implementing this technology will help us make better use of the resources we have now. It will not be enough, but it will certainly provide improvements.”

Falconer says the QCH has asked the Health Capital Investment Branch for provincial funding to support that expansion, which would increase the size of the current emergency department by roughly two-and-a-half times and add 90 new inpatient beds and some additional outpatient service offerings.

He adds, the hospital is ready to build, and he hopes to see an indication that the province will support the plan.