F E AT U R E R E P O R T : A R T I F I C I A L I N T E L L I G E N C E — S E E PA G E 1 8
VOL. 31, NO. 2
MARCH 2026
INSIDE: MEDICAL IMAGING PAGE 15 Alberta’s AI health strategy Alberta’s CMIO outlines the province’s approach to healthcare AI. Part of the plan includes building partnerships with clinicians, innovators, and healthcare organizations. Page 4
HIFU in Sault Ste. Marie Sault Area Hospital has become the first in Canada to deploy the Neurolyser XR High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound system in a clinical setting. The system is being used for pain management. Page 6
PHOTO: UHN
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Future reading room The diagnostic imaging reading room of the future will likely see radiologists talking to their computers like they are colleagues, asking for opinions on the results of MR and CT scans, and any number of tests. Page 15
HALO inventors honoured at UHN awards An interdisciplinary group at UHN that was responsible for creating and launching the patient monitoring innovation called H.A.L.O. (Human Attended Live Observation) has won the hospital’s Mission of Excellence Team Inventor of the Year Award. Pictured are H.A.L.O. clinical inventors and co-founders, Marijana Zubrinic and Dr. Shaf Keshavjee. SEE STORY ON PAGE 10.
Schroeder Ambulatory Centre aims to reduce backlogs BY J E R R Y Z E I D E N B E R G
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ICHMOND HILL, ONT. – The Schroeder Ambulatory Centre (SAC), a charitable non-profit facility in Richmond Hill, just north of Toronto, has been outfitted with operating rooms, CT and MRI scanners, and a host of other equipment and capabilities. The $300 million facility has begun offering services while awaiting final approvals from Accreditation Canada for diagnostic imaging and hip and knee surgical programs. Eventually, it hopes to do even more – functioning as a comprehensive, not-forprofit ambulatory health centre. But as a private medical facility, the first question people ask is, ‘aren’t you going to be moving surgeons, radiologists, nurses and technologists away from resource-starved, traditional hospitals and into your clinic?’ In response, chief medical officer Dr. Fabio Varlese told Canadian Healthcare Technology
that he and his colleagues have been sensitive to this issue for the four years the Schroeder Ambulatory Centre has been in the planning and construction stages. He said the key idea is to add capacity to the Ontario healthcare system, and not to diminish it. “It was crucial for us to find a way to not
The key idea is to add capacity to Ontario's healthcare system, not to diminish it. simply shift capacity from the hospital system to facilities like ours,” he said. So, when it comes to surgeries, he noted that most Ontario surgeons are only in the OR one or two days a week. SAC will enable them to do surgeries on other days, which will increase surgical capacity in the region. Dr. Varlese said they won’t be taking these surgeons away from their regular hospital
duties but will give them the resources to do more operations – to the benefit of patients. As he puts it, “physicians will continue to deliver most of their care from their home hospitals.” In July 2025, the Ontario government announced it will invest $155 million over two years to add 57 new community surgical and diagnostic centres licensed to deliver MRI and CT scans, and gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy services across the province. The expansion will help 1.2 million people access publicly funded procedures faster, the Doug Ford government said. For its part, the Schroeder Ambulatory Centre is receiving $14 million to provide MRI and CT scans, as well as GI endoscopy procedures to over 115,000 patients over two years, significantly reducing wait times in the region. Adding private medical centres to the mix C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 2