Dr Cochrane’s Report on Nanaimo Regional General Hospital’s IHealth system

Dr Cochrane’s report clearly confirms the concerns raised by Nanaimo Regional General Hospital’s (NRGH) doctors and nurses of inefficiencies and problems with Island Health’s new IT system, and we thank him for that.

I’d like to acknowledge – and I think British Columbians owe a debt of gratitude to – the Nanaimo Medical Staff and in particular Dr Tony Booth and Dr Dave Forrest for having the courage to bring their concerns forward and for standing firm.  We now look to Island Health to constructively and meaningfully work in partnership with doctors and nurses at NRGH to correct the IT system’s shortcomings.

Before any further IT system deployment occurs, we need to make sure that the right resources are in place for front line doctors, nurses, and other health care providers, and that rigorous testing of any new system takes place before implementation. We don’t want to see the problems in Nanaimo take place elsewhere.   

Nanaimo’s health care providers look forward to continuing to provide quality and safe patient care.

Alan Ruddiman, MBBCh, Dip PEMP, FRRMS
President