The federal and provincial governments today announced a combined investment of $370,000 to assist the EXCITE Corporation in Grand Falls-Windsor launch an initiative designed to develop the region's e-health sector.
The announcement was made by National Revenue Minister Keith Ashfield and provincial Human Resources Minister Susan Sullivan at College of the North Atlantic's Grand Falls-Windsor campus.
Ashfield announced $226,500 through the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, and Sullivan announced $143,500 under the provincial government's Regional/Sectoral Diversification Fund.
"Our government is pleased to support this initiative, which is anchored by two key objectives. The primary goal is to establish an e-health training program at College of the North Atlantic in Grand Falls-Windsor, and secondarily, develop an action plan to launch the e-health industry in central Newfoundland," Ashfield said. "In building the training program, EXCITE Corporation will work in partnership with health-care providers and the region's educational institutions."
The EXCITE Corporation, which is the non-profit business development arm of the Town of Grand Falls-Windsor, has targeted the health-care industry as a strategic sector of growth for the region. This project was developed over a period of 18 months through consultations with governments, the public health care industry, the College of the North Atlantic, the Newfoundland and Labrador Centre for Health Information and private sector companies in the e-health industry.
The emerging e-health market encompasses a range of services that involve medicine, healthcare and information technology. The Canadian e-health market is currently about $5 billion per year and growing at a significant rate.
"There is a recognized need across Canada to educate, train and develop more e-health professionals," said Al Hawkins, Mayor of Grand Falls-Windsor. "This demand is growing given the current attention that electronic health record development is receiving in Canada and the United States. The EXCITE Corporation's e-health initiative is an excellent approach to generating economic opportunities by focusing on the rapidly growing e-health sector."
According to a news release, the first step will be to establish a nationally accredited e-health training program at College of the North Atlantic in Grand Falls-Windsor. Once that is in place, the project plan will include a jurisdictional review and an industry scan, as well as curriculum development for the training program.
Governments announced funding for e-health initiative
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Published on
June 23, 2010
- Published on July 1, 2010
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Staff ~ The Telegram
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