Niagara Health has signed a 10-year agreement with Oracle Cerner to build a modern hospital information system that will serve all five Niagara Health sites and Hotel Dieu Shaver Health and Rehabilitation Centre. The new hospital information system will allow Niagara Health and Hotel Dieu Shaver to replace paper-based records and outdated electronic processes with more modern, connected and accessible electronic health records. The system will enable better management of data, improved patient safety, faster access to information, enhanced quality and consistency of patient care, and more.

The new system will include digital solutions to manage information for inpatient and outpatient services including acute care, surgical care, emergency and urgent care, complex care, mental health, cancer care and rehab. Niagara Health will implement Cerner technology, using the Cerner Canadian Reference Model, which will be based on Canadian best practices and interoperability standards. Project Monarch was selected earlier this year through an internal contest as the name of the project to build the new hospital information system.

The project is expected to take about two years to complete. It will involve a considerable team effort from staff, physicians and other subject matter experts at Niagara Health, Hotel Dieu Shaver and Oracle Cerner, with input from patient partners and other key stakeholders. The new hospital information system is expected to launch in the fall of 2024.

Oracle Cerner will provide a Canadian-hosted managed service for Niagara Health and Hotel Dieu Shaver. These two organizations will join the Ontario eHub Oracle Cerner Health Information Exchange (HIE) collaborative to share information with other hospitals across Ontario. The Oracle Cerner solution is used by more than 60 hospitals across Ontario.