A local medical software company is getting a cheque for $216,487 from the Federal Government as the company continues to expand overseas.
Nipissing-Timiskaming MP Anthony Rota made the FedNor funding announcement on behalf of the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development and Minister responsible for FedNor Friday morning at Metric Aid’s head office on McIntyre Street in North Bay.
"I’m thrilled that FedNor is investing in MetricAid to create made-in-Northern Ontario solutions to help improve patient care, strengthen the economy and create high-quality, middle-class jobs in our region,” stated Rota in a release.
“Innovation in any sector can only lead to even more opportunities and growth for local businesses and entrepreneurs, and that is precisely the goal of our government’s Innovation and Skills Plan investments.”
Les Blackwell is the CEO of the North Bay-based hi-tech medical software firm that develops medical scheduling software for hospitals across Ontario, the United States and now, thanks to this additional funding they will be taking this unique tool to the UK.
Blackwell says for his UK customers their software will help with their "capacity and demand" scheduling.
“A lot of other industries have done this but it is a new idea for medicine with no competitors in the performance-based scheduling department,” said Blackwell.
“This exciting initiative will allow us to capitalize on an immediate opportunity to expand our reach into the United Kingdom by developing and marketing a unique solution to a problem that is affecting their healthcare system.
“Our software is designed to lower the time from when you see the triage nurse until you see the physician, we have had a good track record of lowering that from about 90 to 60 minutes and there is money attached to that,” continued Blackwell.
The funding will also help bring in six more full-time jobs into the company.
Rota is thrilled to see the work that MetricAid is able to do and how it is creating better-paying jobs for the North.
“One of the important things is you have to create a certain hub of people and by creating a hub of people in the technology industry it starts growing and by expanding you start attracting more and more people from Southern Ontario as well as everywhere else in the country,” said Rota.
“So what we are doing is we are expanding that hub and creating more jobs in the hi-tech sector. By including that or by bringing these people here it just keeps growing and growing and growing and growing, and we are seeing that happen.”
Blackwell says the UK is just the next step but he says they will continue to market their software product to more countries in the future.
“I think there is a very good chance that we will be in Scandinavia probably in the next 18 months or maybe Germany or Spain,” said Blackwell.
“Some of these countries that are also single pair systems are looking for operational efficiencies and tactical day-to-day efficiencies they are already interested in what we are doing.”
