[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]As Canadians await the impending third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, questions about vaccines, and specifically, when and how they are being distributed to the masses remain on everyone’s mind.
BookJane, a Toronto-based SaaS technology company, hopes to help make the task at hand more efficient.
In Sudbury and Peel regions, BookJane is helping to fill medical positions (and administrative positions in Sudbury) at vaccination sites. Something that the CEO of BookJane, Curtis Khan, says is needed, given the complex nature of the rollout.
“A lot of the public health regions are going live now and, and later en masse. If you’re going to start vaccinating hundreds of thousands of Canadians, you need to have the resources to do it,” he says. “And if you don’t, people are going to be left behind.”
Earlier in March, wait times for the vaccine in Newmarket saw many, including seniors, out in the cold for over two hours. A problem that Khan says could be avoided if there was a better system put in place.
How BookJane fills the gaps in staffing
Originally intended as a platform to help ease the process of finding in-home care, BookJane has grown into one of North America’s largest networks of professional caregivers. The platform creates a streamlined approach to filling needed positions at places like retirement homes, hospitals, and long-term care homes.
Since the pandemic began, BookJane has been working with the Ontario Medical Association (OMA) to onboard doctors in the event of a pop-up hospital that would need to be staffed.
Notably, the company onboarded 2,500 doctors in 48 hours, during the beginning of the second wave when there were worries that an emergency hospital would become necessary. Luckily it has not happened.
While those doctors may not be needed at a pop-up hospital, they are needed to administer the COVID-19 vaccine. By utilizing BookJane, Peel and Sudbury regions are able to ensure their vaccination sites are properly—and quickly—staffed.
“Without a system in place, I would see it [vaccines] as very difficult to roll out,” says Khan. “You can’t make a hundred phone calls and expect people to show up. What if a person is scheduled and something happens to them? Our system allows you to know who’s showing up, and have the ability to track that person. If the person can’t show up, it’s easy for them to cancel it and then the posting goes out to another physician.”
Preparing for the masses
Khan hopes that other regions will be able to see how BookJane is helping Peel and Sudbury, as the ultimate goal is to help across the country.
With BookJane’s technology, Khan says that the rollout will be easier to manage and better for both public health and the general public.
“I think one of the challenges that we’re starting to see is we know that there’s not a solution they have today,” said Khan. “They don’t use technology. They’ll have this done manually, which will be a big administration issue if they don’t utilize something more simple to use.”
At the time of print, only 6.710% of Canadians had received at least one dose of a COVID-19, and Khan says he’s excited for BookJane can help increase that number in any way possible, “the plan is to help as much as we can.”[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][/vc_column][/vc_row]
[yikes-mailchimp form=”1″ title=”1″ submit=”SUBSCRIBE”]
