Royal Philips and Mackenzie Health has announced a CAD 300 million (approximately $225.457 million), 18-year large scale alliance that will advance Mackenzie Health's medical technology procurement and maintenance programs for the existing Mackenzie Richmond Hill Hospital and the future Mackenzie Vaughan Hospital, which will be completed in 2019.

The collaboration is based on a managed equipment services model through which Mackenzie Health will have access to state-of-the art equipment (including those of other vendors) and services for a multi-year term under a single payment structure. This includes procurement, installation, systems integration, maintenance and timely updates to ensure that the hospitals will be provided with the medical technologies that their departments require for the optimal delivery of care.

The collaboration further includes a broad range of services including room design, cloud-based predictive analytics and diagnostic technologies. The largest of its kind in Canada, this managed equipment services agreement aims to transform and improve healthcare for over half a million patients in the area.

The new 350-bed 'smart' hospital in Vaughan will be the first new hospital to be built in Southwest York Region in more than 50 years. Mackenzie Vaughan Hospital will embrace connected health technologies or the 'Internet of Healthcare Things' to offer a state-of-the-art emergency department, modern surgical services and operating rooms, access to acute inpatient and intensive care beds, technologically-advanced medical imaging, specialized ambulatory clinics and a flexible design, enabling it to evolve as new thinking and best practices emerge.

"To bring our 'smart hospital' vision to life, we are partnering with industry leaders like Philips who are at the forefront of innovation," said Mr Altaf Stationwala, president and CEO of Mackenzie Health. "The new Mackenzie Vaughan Hospital has the potential to transform the lives of residents in our community, who are in need of quality care throughout their healthcare journey. We chose Philips not only for their products, but also for their expertise and solutions. Mackenzie Health is committed to working with our healthcare partners to deliver a state-of-the-art hospital as part of our vision to create a world-class health experience for the people of Southwest York Region and beyond."

As a strategic partner, Mackenzie Health will have early and ongoing access to the latest Philips healthcare technology innovations, including access to Philips expertise in areas such as systems interoperability, diagnostic imaging equipment utilization, radiology practice management, patient-centric design, and alarm management. Moreover, both Philips and Mackenzie Health will look at ways that patient informatics can be presented as actionable data that will enable predictive, preventative, and population health interventions. This will not only help ensure continuity of patient care, it will help to effectively improve clinical outcomes for patients, reduce costs, and make healthcare more sustainable both inside the hospital network and into the communities that Mackenzie Health serves.

"Forward-thinking organizations such as Mackenzie Health understand that in order to transform healthcare and deliver the type of care their communities need and deserve, they need public-private partnerships with industry-leaders like Philips that have a proven track record of industry expertise and innovation," said Mr Iain Burns, CEO of Philips Canada. "It takes more than just technology to deliver the right solutions, you need to have a deep understanding of the consumer and the healthcare industry to apply best practices for effective patient-centric care. And with this type of large scale partnership, we are an accountable partner, which will ultimately allow Mackenzie Health to focus on doing what they do best: caring for the people in their fast growing community."