Background

The foundation for many of the Telehealth services, delivered in this province via video-conferencing, was laid during the British Columbia Telehealth Program project, funded through Health Canada’s Canada Health Infostructure Partnerships Program (CHIPP).

The British Columbia Ministry of Health Services supported the initiative with $3 million, targeted at technology and infrastructure, and Health Canada matched the amount, with project partners providing significant in-kind contributions.

The purpose of the project was to initiate various Telehealth services, via specialized videoconferencing and telemedicine equipment, to a number of rural and remote communities for emergency, trauma, continuing medical education, maternal and child, and pediatric palliative care.

The Provincial Health Services Authority undertook responsibility for the BC Telehealth Program in December 2002 and successfully completed a $6.5 million, two-year development linking highly specialized programs at centre’s like BC Children’s Hospital and BC Women’s Hospital & Health Centre to a number of communities outside the Lower Mainland.

A Provincial Telehealth Office has been established at the Ministry of Health Services. Information on the current state of Telehealth in British Columbia can be found on their web site at http://www.health.gov.bc.ca/ehealth/telehealth_project.html