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shares the delivery
of healthcare with other hospitals in Northwestern Ontario.
It is a welcome partnership that serves a demographically
varied population of people that is scattered throughout an
area the land-mass size of the country of France. There are
various issues to contend with including language differences,
distance, remoteness, and related communication technology.
 Strategies
are in place or are in the development stage to connect towns,
villages, and settlements using fibre optic networks. When
possible, telehealth strategies bring patients and care-givers
together electronically.For example, these strategies may
include teleradiology, telepsychiatry, and pediatric assessment – to name three. However, when the need arises patients
may come to the city to receive care from a medical specialist.
Furthermore, TBRHSC is the regional trauma centre and strategies
are in place to transport patients by land ambulance, fixed
wing and helicopter as required.
In association with a provincially coordinated organization,
CritiCall, patients that are unable to be served in Thunder
Bay are transported to a nearby facility such as Winnipeg,
Duluth, Sault Ste.Marie, Sudbury, Toronto, Hamilton, London,
Ottawa, and so on. In this way, people living in Northwestern
Ontario can feel confident that a partnership of healthcare
providers is standing by as part of a continuum of care.
When the Medical School opens next year, TBRHSC will also
host the activities of specialists and medical students, education
strategies among caregivers from around the region, and permit
members of the Board of Governors out in the region to join
special meetings as required.
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