Healthcare:
Healthcare in Northern Ontario is delivered by two not-for-profit corporations who work with local health providers and community members to determine the health service priorities of the region. Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs) plan, integrate and fund local health services, including:
- Hospitals
- Community Care Access Centres
- Community Support Services
- Long-term Care
- Mental Health and Addictions Services
- Community Health Centres
Northern Ontario has 37 hospitals, 329 long-term care facilities and agencies and two regional cancer centres. The Ontario Telemedicine Network, a telemedicine initiative that facilitates medical consultations, continuing medical education, and patient education via two-way videoconferencing and electronic medical instruments links 353 sites in 114 communities across the North.
In response to geographic/distance challenges, northern health facilities have embraced innovative approaches in telemedicine and the delivery of health care such as integrated teleradiology/digital imaging; mobile screening and diagnostic equipment; and pan-northern telemedicine initiatives.
These areas present significant partnership opportunities among the North’s hospitals, telecommunications industry and post-secondary institutions such as the Northern Ontario School of Medicine playing a central role.
