Newsroom

Advancing Responsible AI in Healthcare

November 09, 2026

Queensway Carleton Hospital (QCH) and Pembroke Regional Hospital have joined forces to bring hospitals across Eastern Ontario together to share resources and standards for the safe, ethical and responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare.

The new Regional AI Governance Collaborative will bring together expertise from participating hospitals to develop common AI policies, risk assessment frameworks, vendor evaluation tools and ethical guidelines. By working together, hospitals can reduce duplication, share specialized expertise and make more informed decisions about adopting AI technologies, while maintaining independence over which solutions they implement.

The initiative is co-led by Lindsay Wyers, Vice President Transformation, Innovation & Strategic Partnerships, Chief Digital & Privacy Officer at QCH, and Scott Coombes, Vice-President and CFO at Pembroke Regional Hospital.

Why collaboration matters

AI is rapidly transforming healthcare, from clinical documentation and diagnostic support to scheduling and administrative processes. But as adoption accelerates, hospitals face growing pressure to ensure these technologies are safe, effective, equitable and trustworthy.

Currently, healthcare organizations often independently evaluate the same AI products, conduct similar privacy and cybersecurity assessments, and develop separate policies. This duplication requires significant resources, particularly for smaller community hospitals that may not have access to specialized AI expertise.

The Collaborative is designed to address these challenges by asking a simple question: What governance work can be done once and shared across multiple hospitals?

Rather than each organization starting from scratch, participating hospitals will be able to access common evaluation tools, governance frameworks, and evidence-informed assessments that can be adapted to their local needs.

Importantly, the Collaborative will not approve AI products on behalf of hospitals or determine which technologies they should adopt. Each organization will retain responsibility for its own procurement, implementation, and ongoing oversight.

Building a foundation for responsible AI

Effective AI governance requires expertise from multiple disciplines, including clinical care, patient safety, privacy, cybersecurity, ethics, legal considerations and financial responsibility.

The Collaborative has engaged Info-Tech Research Group, with support from Krizia Francisco and Justin St-Maurice, to help develop practical, scalable governance processes.

It is also partnering with the University of Ottawa, where PhD student Amanda Maria Kutenski will support the development of an ethical AI framework and decision-making tool.

Together, participating organizations have established eight foundational principles emphasizing accountability, patient safety, fairness, transparency, human oversight, technical robustness, patient autonomy, and fiscal responsibility.

Progress and next steps

More than 20 leaders representing physicians, patients, privacy, finance, technology, clinical operations and executive leadership have already contributed to the initiative.

Through collaborative planning sessions, the group has developed foundational AI principles, proposed governance structures, initial charter concepts, and a regional roadmap.

The next phase will focus on formalizing governance structures, identifying AI technologies already being used across participating hospitals, and evaluating priority tools using consistent risk assessment methods.

Over time, the Collaborative will introduce shared processes for assessing new AI applications and monitoring higher-risk technologies.

A model with national potential

While the Collaborative is being established in Eastern Ontario's Champlain region, its approach could serve as a model for hospitals across Canada.

By sharing expertise, reducing duplication and establishing consistent standards, participating hospitals are helping create a more sustainable approach to AI governance—one that balances innovation with patient safety and public trust.

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Media contact:
Natasha Curley
Communications Officer
Communications@qch.on.ca

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Newsroom

Newsroom

Advancing Responsible AI in Healthcare

November 09, 2026

Why collaboration matters

Building a foundation for responsible AI

Progress and next steps

Participating hospital partners

A model with national potential