New ER solutions at Napanee and Ottawa centres

NAPANEE, Ont., and OTTAWA – Lennox and Addington County General Hospital (LACGH) has selected EmergConnect, a Canadian health-tech platform that automates emergency department intake and triage, to modernize the patient arrival experience in its emergency department.

And just last month, the Hôpital Montfort, in Ottawa, decided upon the same solution to optimize the workings of its own emergency department.

In Napanee, the partnership brings EmergConnect’s self-service patient intake and software-assisted clinical triage to LACGH’s ED, allowing patients to register and complete structured clinical screenings through a kiosk, mobile device, or web-based experience, before being seen by a nurse.

Patient information then flows directly into the hospital’s existing electronic health record through EmergConnect’s DataBridge integration, which requires no backend system changes or IT overhaul.

“Our ED team works hard to see patients quickly, but administrative work at the front door was pulling nurses away from bedside care,” said Kristen Rochon, vice-president of patient care services and chief nursing executive at LACGH. “To support our strategic efforts to reduce patient wait time in our emergency department, EmergConnect will enable us to streamline that intake process and help patients reach a physician faster, without changing how our clinicians make care decisions.”

Implementation began with two new self-service kiosks in the ED, replacing existing kiosks. EmergConnect allows patients to provide information such as demographic details, reason for visit, and medication and allergy history, all of which is then incorporated into their existing patient chart prior to meeting with the triage nurse.

The result is a more comprehensive and streamlined triage visit overall.

Go-live took place October 19, 2026, with a rollout that, by design, required minimal IT involvement — consistent with EmergConnect’s front-end integration model.

“We’re proud to partner with Lennox and Addington County General Hospital,” said Ron Galaev (pictured left), founder and CEO of EmergConnect. “Our platform is built to make ED intake easier for patients and staff alike, without asking teams to learn a new system. We’re looking forward to supporting their community.”

Hospitals using EmergConnect have seen meaningful operational gains, including:

• Up to 60% faster triage time
• PIA (physician-initial-assessment) time cut by up to 13%
• 81% of nurses reporting reduced administrative workload
• Up to 80% of ED patients using EmergConnect when available

Meanwhile, patients visiting the ED at Hôpital Montfort can now begin their registration and self-assessment before reaching triage — from a tablet in the waiting room, their own smartphone, or even from home via a free app.

The EmergConnect solution, a secure Canadian digital platform for preregistration and pre-triage, was successfully evaluated through OBIO’s Life Sciences Critical Technologies & Commercialization (LSCTC) Centre of Excellence, in partnership with the Institut du Savoir Montfort.

The evaluation took place in the Montfort emergency department over several months, with the goal of reducing wait times, improving the patient experience, and easing the administrative workload of the clinical teams.

“The collaboration between Hôpital Montfort, the Institut du Savoir Montfort, and EmergConnect is a concrete lever to transform the way we work,” said Marie Parish (pictured right), clinical director, critical care, Hôpital Montfort.

“By partnering with innovative organizations and reducing administrative tasks, we enable our teams to focus on what matters most – patient- and community-centred care.”

Based on preliminary results, Montfort procured the EmergConnect technology through OBIO’s Early Adopter Health Network (EAHN), and was the first hospital to do so in the Ottawa region. EAHN is supported by the Government of Canada, through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), and LSCTC is supported by the Government of Ontario.

EmergConnect allows patients to complete a guided questionnaire before meeting with a triage nurse, using a free app on their own mobile devices or on tablets provided in the emergency department.

They can provide information about their symptoms, relevant medical history, and reason for their visit. With their consent, this information is made available to clinical teams from the earliest stages of triage.

The platform also includes an electronic pre-triage feature for paramedics, which allows care coordination to begin even before patients transported by ambulance arrive at the Emergency Department. Completing this process in advance is optional; all patients presenting to the Emergency Department are assessed according to the Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale (CTAS).

For Hôpital Montfort, Ontario’s francophone academic hospital, this partnership reflects a patient-centred approach to innovation. By adding a self-assessment step before triage, Montfort aims to accelerate patient care, enable frontline teams to spend more time with patients, and improve the speed and efficiency of care coordination in the Emergency Department.

Evaluating and implementing the solution through OBIO’s LSCTC Centre of Excellence and EAHN also allows Hôpital Montfort and the Institut du Savoir Montfort to generate real-world evidence that can support the broader adoption of promising Canadian health technologies across other hospitals.

“Emergency care should begin the moment a patient decides they need help – not when the paperwork is done. Our partnership with Hôpital Montfort, the Institut du Savoir Montfort, and OBIO makes that possible,” said Ron Galaev, CEO, EmergConnect.

He added, “Patients arrive already heard, and clinicians get their time back for care. Innovation is how Canadian healthcare will meet the capacity our communities need in the years ahead, and it takes leaders like Montfort and the Institut du Savoir Montfort to make that possible for everyone else.”

About EmergConnect
EmergConnect is a Canadian health-tech company that automates emergency department intake and triage, while helping health systems guide patients to the right care setting before they arrive at the ED. Its EMR-agnostic platform integrates with any electronic health record – including Epic, Cerner, Meditech, and Lumio, the company said — through front-end integration, with no backend APIs or HL7 required. EmergConnect typically deploys in 6–16 weeks and delivers ROI in 3–4 months through nursing time savings.

EmergConnect Media Contact: Nick Jackson nick.jackson@emergconnect.ca.