To help commemorate the holidays, Telus recently announced a $5 million donation to Child Health BC Initiative through the BC Children’s Hospital.
The donation will go towards enhancing access to health tech throughout the province. Children who are in need of paediatric treatment can get it through advances in telehealth being implemented through the initiative. Telehealth refers to technology that connects patients to a readily available, remote health care team.
Paediatric intensive care units equipped with tele-PICU, or Telehealth, will ensure the on-demand delivery of a BC Children’s specialist and sub-specialist consultation for patients living outside of the Lower Mainland.
Telehealth will also be used at PICUs at Victoria General Hospital and BC Children’s Hospital to ensure proper preparation for patient transfers.
Dr. Wensley, a paediatric critical care physician describes a situation in which Telehealth proved a valuable asset in ensuring the care of a Vancouver-based child.
“Recently, we helped to manage an emergency case from Vancouver with a child located in Trail. We had just had our Telehealth training and took the opportunity to use it to help us evaluate the child. To actually see her chest movements and ventilator helped us trouble-shoot remotely. We helped to stabilize the child to enable safe transport to BC Children’s Hospital. The use of videoconferencing technology can now be leveraged to deliver lifesaving advice and support from a major centre to people living in remote and smaller communities. The parents’ early introduction to the team gave them reassurance and allowed them to focus on their daughter during the journey.”
Telus is one of the largest IT health providers in Canada, in addition to being one of the country’s largest telecom providers. This development comes as the remote healthcare industry is bustling in Canada. Several apps, such as Akira, PopRX and Ada, operate on the basis of providing medical advice to remote patients.
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