Expanded WiFi coming to Richmond in 2017
VCH, PHC, and PHSA have entered into a new agreement with TELUS to provide a high quality, uninterrupted, and fully supported Wi-Fi broadband service for physicians, clinicians, staff, patients, residents, and the general public at up to 133 sites across the three health organizations.
All Richmond sites are scheduled for implementation in 2017, starting with business engagement at Richmond Hospital in January/February. Richmond Hospital will be completed first with the program team moving onto Richmond residential care sites after that. Primary care and community sites will be implemented last. All in-scope Richmond sites will be completed by the end of 2017.
Implementing this service is a huge step on our path towards meeting the needs of CST and other IT initiatives. The ability to connect a multitude of medical and mobile devices to a hospital or care site’s Wi-Fi network enables better clinical workflows and more direct patient care at the bedside. Better quality care at the point of care improves the outcomes of our patients.
This new initiative offers a fully supported, “always on” Wi-Fi network with a 99.9% available high bandwidth service and 24/7/365 support. It will ensure consistent, best practice network privacy and security standards as well as reduce the risk of unplanned Wi-Fi outages. This program will be delivered via a partnership between IMITS, BCCSS, and TELUS.
The new Wi-Fi service also fills a significant gap we have for patient, resident, and guest Wi-Fi access while they are in one of our facilities. A basic level of internet service (for email and internet) will be offered on a complimentary basis; a chargeable premium Wi-Fi service for high bandwidth streaming will also be available.
The site deployment schedule is being determined by a joint executive governance committee and prioritized using three key considerations: CST implementation, clinical need, and patient and family experience. This initial list will be published as soon as it’s approved.