This April marks one year since the launch of the Bridge Northwest Program — a significant milestone in our shared journey to bring Meditech Expanse to Partner Organizations across Northwestern Ontario.

Since our regional kickoff in April 2025, the Program has steadily progressed from a planning and design stage into the system build – which is underway across all Expanse modules with hundreds of dictionaries and thousands of individual pieces of clinical content being reviewed.

A Regional Effort

At the center of all this work are the people making it possible. Our Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), working group members, and local teams continue to be the driving force behind this transformation. Representing every organization, discipline, and care setting, they bring invaluable knowledge, experience, and perspective to ensure that what we are building reflects the realities of healthcare across Northwestern Ontario. Their contributions — alongside the engagement of front-line staff, professional staff, and leaders — are what make this a truly regional effort.

Participation by the Numbers

• 850+ individuals from the 12 Partnering Organizations have been involved to date – including 80+ professional staff and 100+ executives.

• 40+ Working Groups & governing bodies are currently standing.

• 250+ Events /Meetings have been attended by Bridge Northwest’s Change Management Team.

Technical Readiness

Device selections and infrastructure walkthroughs were completed across the 12 Partner Organization’s hospitals and care facilities.

These sessions brought Bridge Northwest teams directly into care environments to engage with frontline staff, professional staff, and leaders. By walking through real workflows and care spaces together, teams gathered practical insights that are shaping how devices will support care delivery in a way that is efficient in day-to-day realities.

• 5000+ device items are being ordered and configured over the summer.  
• Deployment of devices will begin later this Fall.

Keeping Momentum

As we mark this one-year milestone, we can also think about the year ahead of us. In the coming months, the Program will be focused on completing the system build, and carrying out testing, training, and preparation activities for Go-Live.

Together, we’ve built strong momentum in our first year. Together, we will continue building a connected future for care across Northwestern Ontario.