NORTH Network was a telehealth organization serving communities in Northern and Central Ontario. NORTH's head office was located in Toronto and its clinical headquarters in Timmins. NORTH was a program of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, and received funding from the provincial government's Ministry of Health and Long Term Care.
NORTH Network's name is an acronym which stands for the Northern Ontario Remote Telehealth Network.
As of April 1, 2006 NORTH Network merged with Ontario's two other regional telehealth service providers (Videocare (Southwestern Ontario) and Careconnect (Eastern Ontario) to form the Ontario Telemedicine Network.
Mandate and Operations
NORTH provided patients in rural and under-serviced communities access to specialized medical care using videoconferencing and other tele-diagnostic equipment. Specialists remotely examined and prescribed treatment to patients in their home communities.
NORTH also connected healthcare professionals and students in the north to educational programmes, and delivered healthcare-related administrative services to its member organizations.
At the time of its integration into the Ontario Telemedicine Network, NORTH was facilitating over 2,000 clinical consultations each month and an additional 500 educational and administrative events. NORTH was the busiest telehealth programme in Canada, and may have been the largest network of its kind in the world. Its size and volumes have increased significantly since forming a province-wide network. More than 2,000 physicians and other allied health professionals used the Network, which linked more than 226 sites in more than 120 communities across Ontario.
The NORTH telehealth network began as an experiment undertaken by the Harris government from a 1995 OMA study to compensate for hospital funding cutbacks, and doctor shortages. The study examined how telemedicine could improve access to health care for citizens of rural and remote Ontario. As a network of providers who shared information about difficult, or difficult to diagnose or difficult to treat patients, the project was able to empower physicians treating their patients at arms length via information-sharing.
Launched in six sites in 1998, NORTH Network experienced a significant expansion between 2001 and 2003, thanks to funding from Health Canada's Canadian Health Infostructure Partnerships Program (CHIPP).
The original sites involved in the project included: Timmins and District Hospital (Timmins), Lady Minto Hospital (Cochrane), Kirkland and District Hospital (Kirkland Lake), Sudbury Regional Hospital (Sudbury), Sunnybrook and Women's College Hospital (Toronto), and the Hospital for Sick Children (Toronto), all in Ontario, Canada.
Dr. Barry McLellan was one of the original proponents of the NORTH project, leaving his position as medical director of the North network to become Coroner for Northeastern Ontario.
(Member list accurate as of March 30, 2006.)
Hospitals
Atikokan General Hospital
Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care
Blind River District Health Centre
Brantford General Hospital
Bridgepoint Health
Campbellford & District Community Mental Health Centre
Campbellford Memorial Hospital
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
College St. Site
Queen St. Site
Russell St. Site
Chapleau Health Services
Collingwood General & Marine Hospital
Credit Valley Hospital
Dryden Regional Health Centre
Englehart & District Hospital
Espanola General Hospital
Geraldton District Hospital
Guelph General Hospital
Haliburton Highlands Health Services
Haliburton Site
Minden Site
Hamilton Health Sciences Centre
Chedoke Campus
General Hospital Site
Henderson Campus
Juravinski Cancer Centre
McMaster Children's Hospital
McMaster University Campus
Headwaters Health Care Centre
Hornepayne Community Hospital
Hospital for Sick Children (The)
Huronia District Hospital
James Bay General Hospital
Kirkland and District Hospital
Lady Dunn Health Centre
Lake of the Woods District Hospital
Lakeridge Health
Beaverton Thorah Health Centre
Bowmanville
Oshawa
Port Perry New Life Centre
Whitby
Manitoulin Health Centre
Little Current Site
Mindemoya Site
Manitouwadge General Hospital
Mattawa General Hospital
McCausland Hospital
Meno-Ya-Win Health Centre
5th Avenue Site
7th Avenue Site
M.I.C.'s Group of Health Services
Anson General Hospital
Bingham Memorial Hospital
Lady Minto Hospital
Mount Sinai Hospital
Muskoka-East Parry Sound Health Services
Burk's Falls & District Health Centre
Huntsville District Memorial Hospital
South Muskoka Memorial Hospital
Niagara Health System
Greater Niagara General Site
Niagara-on-the-Lake Hospital Site
Port Colborne General Site
St. Catharines General Site
Welland Hospital Site
Nipigon District Memorial Hospital
North Bay and District Hospital
North York General Hospital
Northumberland Hills Hospital
Notre Dame Hospital
Penetanguishene General Hospital
Penetanguishene Mental Health Centre
Peterborough Regional Health Centre
Riverside Health Care Facilities
LaVerendrye Health Care Centre
Rainy River Health Care Centre
Red Lake Margaret Cochenour Memorial Hospital
Educational and Community Organizations
Cambrian College of Applied Arts & Technology
The Canadian Hearing Society
Canadian Institute for Health Information
Canadian Mental Health Association (The)
Cancer Care Ontario
CCAC of the District of Thunder Bay
CCAC for Kenora & Rainy River Districts
Dryden Site
Fort Frances Site
Kenora Site
Centre for Mountain Health Services
Centre for Movement Disorders
Cochrane District Community Care Access Centre
College of Physicians & Surgeons of Ontario
Community Care Access Centre of the District of Thunder Bay
Dryden and District Association for Community Living
Ear Falls Community Health Centre
George Jeffrey Children's Centre
Group Health Centre - Sault Ste. Marie
Health Sciences North
Institute for Safe Medication Practices Inc.
Laurentian University - School of Nursing
Mary Berglund Community Health Centre
McMaster University
Department of Family Medicine
Faculty of Health Sciences
Michael DeGroote Centre for Learning
Mohawk Site
Northeast Mental Health Centre
North Bay Psychiatric Hospital
Northeastern Ontario Medical Education Corporation
Northern Ontario School of Medicine
N.W.O. Infection Control Network
Ontario Addiction Treatment Centres
Richmond Hill Site
Thunder Bay Site
Ornge
Ontario Hospital Association
Ontario Medical Association
Pioneer Manor
Rural Ontario Medical Program
Sioux Lookout & Hudson Association for Community Living
St. Joseph's Villa
St. Joseph's Care Group
Heritage Site
Hogarth Riverview Manor
Rehab/ Chronic Pain Mngt. Site
Sister Margaret Smith Centre
Surrey Place Centre
University of Toronto - Faculty of Medicine
Public Health
Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox, & Addington Health Unit
Middlesex-London Health Unit
North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit
Regional Niagara Public Health unit
Thunder Bay District Health Unit
Teleprimary Care Sites with collaborating family physicians
Apsley Medical Centre
Argyle Nursing Station
Britt Nursing Station
Havelock - Belmont - Methuen Health Centre
Keene Health Centre
Kerr, L. (Dr.)
McMullen, W. (Dr.)
Medical Associates Physicians Clinic
NorWest Community Health Centre
Armstrong Site
Longlac Site
Thunder Bay Site
Pointe au Baril Nursing Station
Registered Nurses Association of Ontario
Rosseau Nursing Station
Whitestone & Area Nursing Station
Wright Clinic
Government
Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services
Central East Correctional Centre
Monteith Correctional Facility
Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care
Emergency Management Unit
Central Local Health Integration Network - Markham
Central East Local Health Integration Network - Ajax
Central West Local Health Integration Network - Brampton
Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant Local Health Integration Network - Grimsby
North Simcoe Muskoka Local Health Integration Network - Orillia
North East Local Health Integration Network - North Bay
North West Local Health Integration Network - Thunder Bay
Toronto Central Local Health Integration Network - Toronto
Keewaytinook Okimakanak Telehealth
Bearskin Lake First Nation
Beausoleil First Nation Health Centre
Big Trout Lake Nursing Station
Cat Lake First Nations Health Authority
Deer Lake Nursing Station
Eabametoong First Nation
Emily Anderson Memorial Nursing Station
Fort Severn Nursing Station
Judas & Emily Winter Memorial Clinic
Keewaytinook Okimakanak Northern Chiefs Council
Keewaytinook Okimakanak Telehealth
Keewaywin Nursing Station
Kingfisher Lake Nursing Station
Lac Seul First Nation
Nellie Fiddler Memorial Health Centre
Neskantaga Nursing Station
New Osnaburgh Nursing Station
Nibinamik First Nation
Nodin CFI- Sioux Lookout First Nations Health Authority
North Spirit Lake Nursing Station
Pikangikum First Nation
Poplar Hill Nursing Station
Sachigo Lake First Nation
Sandy Lake Nursing Station
Sena Memorial Nursing Station
Shibogama First Nations Council
Sioux Lookout Diabetes Program
Slate Falls First Nation
Webequie First Nation
Wunnumin Lake Nursing Station