Government & Policy

HALIFAX – In April and June of this year, 18 people died or suffered serious disabilities as a result of care they received in Nova Scotia’s healthcare system. Another 10 suffered death or serious disability due to suicide or suicide attempts. Read More

EDMONTON – Alberta’s NDP government announced a new deal that will see Alberta Health Services take over the medical testing now done by Dynalife, a private-sector laboratory. The agreement will take effect in March 2022, when Dynalife’s recently extended service contract to serve Edmonton and northern Alberta expires. Read More

TORONTO – After serving Ontario’s medtech community for over 12 years, the Health Technology Exchange (HTX) abruptly announced that it has closed for business, effective September 30, 2016. Read More

TORONTO – Ontario’s $20 million Health Technologies Fund (HTF) is now accepting applications. Announced in May by William Charnetski (pictured), Ontario’s chief health innovation strategist, the Fund will support the development of leading, market-ready, made-in-Ontario health technologies by accelerating prototyping, evaluation, adoption and diffusion in the Ontario healthcare sector. Read More

MONTREAL – The McGill University Hospital Centre, a large and new facility that purchased $255 million worth of top-of-the-line equipment, is unable to keep key pieces running due to a shortage of operating capital. The list includes a positron emission tomography (PET) machine to detect cancer, two MRI scanners, two CT scanners and at least one ultrasound device. Read More

TORONTO – At the recent Charting the Future of Drug Policy in Canada conference, the Honourable Jane Philpott, Minister of Health, talked about the important role that Infoway’s pan-Canadian e-prescribing service, known as PrescribeIT, can play in delivering the Government of Canada’s four pillars approach to drug policy. Read More

MONTREAL – An independent study concludes that Quebec has the longest emergency wait times in Canada, and among the longest in the industrialized world. Robert Salois (pictured), Quebec’s health and welfare commissioner, says 35 percent of patients in Quebec – one in three – waited five hours or more for help in an emergency department while the average in the same category in the rest of Canada is 19 percent. In Ontario, 15 percent waited five hours or more. Read More

TORONTO – Ontario will soon be accepting applications for its $20 million Health Technologies Fund, which will support the development of world class, market-ready, made-in-Ontario health technologies by accelerating prototyping, evaluation and adoption in the Ontario healthcare sector. Read More

EDMONTON – The Alberta government is consolidating its four Alberta Innovation agencies into one, and will be cutting their overall budget by $44 million. Deron Bilous (pictured), minister of economic development and trade, said the move was a “very tough decision” prompted by low oil prices. Read More