Health Info Library is now Open!

A new resource of health information for you and your family is now available on the Internet - thanks to the Middlesex Hospital Alliance (MHA).

"Health Info Online Library is a collection of health information on everything from rabies to dressing wounds and baby care, all from trusted healthcare sources," Nancy Maltby-Webster, COO of the MHA, says.

"Our goal was to create a digital database that would be clinically accurate, up-to-date and organized by a process that allows easy access," Mary Robertson, MHA Patient Services Project Lead and the lead on this project, says. In the past, the MHA gave patients brochures with printed information on health topics such as breastfeeding or bathing a baby. "Printing paper copies is expensive and can be inefficient, so we decided instead to gather resources into a digital library. We wanted up-to-date healthcare information easily accessible in one place - and from trusted sources," Robertson says.

To build the Library as a resource of existing information on health issues, the MHA team selected and organized external website links and MHA's own materials. These collected resources are selected and reviewed by the MHA Patient Education Guides (PEGs) Committee, including clinical staff, as providing useful, up-to-date information that is easy to understand. In many cases, the external links are to resources that residents may access independently, such as London-Middlesex Public Health website.

The online MHA Library collects and organizes these resources in one location. The information is grouped into subject areas, such as Medical Conditions or Baby Care and within each subject group the materials/links are listed alphabetically. In the case of Medical Conditions, for example, the information includes descriptions of diagnoses, common treatments, care and procedures. The library is a work-in-progress and new materials, links and subject groups will continue to be added.

"The information in the Library is meant as general health information, not to be used as diagnosis or medical opinion," Robertson says. But, "when you get home from a hospital visit and can't recall what the nurse said about changing a post-surgery dressing, for example, the web reference that the nurse gave you can refresh your memory. Also, if a family member is admitted to hospital, you can use the online link to view the same information at home that the patient will receive in the hospital."

Robertson says that healthcare information is available from other sources also. "If you have non-urgent health concerns, call your family physician or you can call the free TeleHealth Ontario service to be connected to a Registered Nurse who can assist you." That phone number is 1-866-797-0000.

The MHA Health Info Online is on the front page of the MHA website www.mhalliance.on.ca in the Quick Links section.

Health Info Library is now Open - PDF format (176Kb)

Connecting with the Future of Care

Health Info Library is now Open!