News - 2021

In Canada, the move to Digital Health has been a top priority, with the federal government investing $240.5 million in virtual care in 2020 alone. This year's Digital Health Week is about "celebrating the progress digital health has made and the momentum it has gained in an otherwise difficult year."

In line with the recent CST Cerner system roll out at PHSA’s BC Cancer – Vancouver, new functionality was added for providers to receive notifications of their patient’s lab results from most labs in the province. This is a first for B.C. because, while provincial lab results are viewable in CareConnect, no other clinical information system is integrating labs information at this level for comprehensive, near-real time access. It means that patients who attend Vancouver centre, and soon other facilities using CST Cerner, can expect a better experience because their care team has access to a more complete patient record. CST Cerner is currently being rolled out across more than 40 facilities across VCH, PHSA and PHC.

Final preparations were completed over the past week to move both clients and staff from the Burnaby Centre for Mental Health and Addiction to their new facility:  Red Fish Healing Centre for Mental Health and Addiction, which opened its doors on October 12.

​The World Health Organization declared the theme of this year's World Patient Safety Day, September 17, as "safe maternal and newborn care". According to WHO statistics, every day 810 women lose their lives during childbirth.