Good day for businesses receiving money from Goodyear

From crane training to automated prescriptions, Gary Goodyear, Canada’s minister of science and technology, was in town to celebrate federal investment in both.  At the Operating Engineers Training Institute of Ontario (OETIO) on Speers Road, Goodyear witnessed the groundbreaking of the Advanced Training Facility — a project that received $1.4 million in federal funding through the Knowledge Infrastructure Program (KIP).

Goodyear was joined by Oakville MP Terence Young, Mike Gallagher, chair of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 793 Training Fund and Local business manager, and OETIO executive director Harold McBride.

The 12,800 square-foot Advanced Training Facility will boost the capacity and function of OETIO's Oakville campus.

The new facility will include a mechanic’s garage, two classrooms and a simulation lab under one roof to provide training space for compulsory certification for crane operators and advanced training for mechanics.

"Our government is investing in innovation and infrastructure to create jobs, help our economy recover quickly and improve the quality of life for Canadians," said Goodyear. The investment will generate jobs now and providing a training space for years to come.

KIP is a two-year, $2 billion economic stimulus measure to support infrastructure enhancement at Canadian post-secondary institutions — and is part of the $12 billion allocated under Canada's Economic Action Plan for new infrastructure investment.

Through it, $800 million will be invested in projects at Ontario post-secondary institutions.

"This funding will enable the OETIO to further expand its state-of-the-art simulation training and offer specialized courses for heavy equipment mechanics and tower crane technicians," said Gallagher.

"We will be able to better serve the needs of construction employers across Ontario," he said.

McBride said the new training facility will pay dividends to the construction industry for years to come.

The stop at Oakville’s crane-training facility was his second of the day.

Goodyear first stopped to announce investment in Patient Care Automation Services Inc. (PCAS) — the developer of the PharmaTrust(TM) MedCentre, a telepharmacy dispensing and primary care system.

Here, the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP) is handing over $1.5 million to the system designed for applications in hospitals, pharmacies, medical clinics, workplaces and other locations, providing patients with convenient and safe access to prescription drugs.

The funding is earmarked to support the Oakville-based company in hiring product development and engineering staff for two projects.

The first is furthering the development of company's telepharmacy and primary-care platform technologies.

The second supports the development of advanced manufacturing techniques and technologies that will help the company meet market demand in Canada, the U. K. and the U. S.

“These two projects will put Canada at the forefront of pharmacy technology and benefit people around the world,” said Goodyear.

“Investing in science and technology is critical for developing highly-skilled people and improving the long-term competitiveness of Canadian firms. That's why NRC-IRAP is helping innovative Canadian businesses like PharmaTrust grow stronger, faster and bigger,” said NRC President Dr. Pierre Coulombe.

To use the system, customers insert a prescription or pick up a phone, and via a video conferencing system, speak to a pharmacist or physician.

To dispense a medication, pending the pharmacist's authorization, the machine verifies a medication's barcode label, an RFID (radio-frequency identification) tag, the medication's DIN (drug identification number), lot number, expiry date, storage profile, photographs, video and weight.

The MedCentre then presents the results of all tests to the pharmacist who reviews them and finishes by consulting with the patient before deciding whether or not to dispense the medication.

Patients can pay with their drug plan card, cash, credit or debit.

Patients benefit from the convenience and enhanced safety of PharmaTrust, while it translates into cost savings for the health care system.

Currently, trials are taking place at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto, under the supervision of the hospital's pharmacy; there are production sites at the Albany Clinic and Cambridge Hospital.

The system is under evaluation as a pandemic response platform by researchers at the University Health Network and the company has also just recently received approval to deploy its system in select locations in the UK.

“We think that our dispensing system is the way of the future. It's going to take some time to get there, but with the help of NRC-IRAP, we hope to revolutionize the dispensing and management of prescription drugs in Canada and around the world," said Peter Suma, co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of PharmaTrust.

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