News

VON is proud to have reached a significant milestone in the evolution of our digital transformation strategy, with the implementation of VON Connect, powered by AlayaCare, at all of our sites.

The new technology replaces outdated pen-and-paper charting processes, creates an electronic client health record, and transforms how we provide care by supporting our nurses, personal support workers, continuing care assistants and other care providers to more easily communicate with each other and to access needed resources in real time.

Three years ago, VON Connect implementation began with an April 2023 beta launch in North Bay and Porcupine, Ontario. With lessons learned from the beta launch, we piloted the program in Pictou County, Nova Scotia in May 2024. 

By February 2025, VON Connect had been implemented at all Nova Scotia sites, and the rollout of Ontario sites had begun. Now, with the successful go-live of our Sudbury, Algoma, Manitoulin, and Espanola sites in June 2026, VON Connect is live across the organization!

VON Connect supports the goals of our strategic plan, strengthening our ability to provide innovative new solutions for clients and caregivers, spread clinical and operational excellence across the organization, empower staff with better tools and experiences, and advance care through data and technology.

Over the implementation period, we have made meaningful progress in how VON Connect, powered by AlayaCare, supports the work of our clinical staff. For example, it has significantly improved how our home support teams track and respond to client needs. Our care providers are able to access real-time care plans, document visits more efficiently and flag concerns within the system, all helping to reduce delays and improve continuity of care. 

“As we formally close the implementation phase of the project, this is not the end of our journey but the beginning of our next chapter,” said VON Canada President and CEO Jo-Anne Poirier. “The foundation has been built, and now we will continue to enhance workflows, strengthen adoption, improve efficiency and ensure we are realizing the full value of our investment.” 

$10 million campaign to fund VON Connect was a success thanks to generous donors

VON Connect could not have been implemented without the generous support of donors throughout Nova Scotia and Ontario. A successful $10 million campaign to raise the necessary funds saw generous gifts from individual donors, charitable foundations and businesses alike—all united by a desire to modernize home and community care for the benefit of current and future clients.   

“The demand for home and community care is growing,” said Jo-Anne. “Even though most seniors wish to age at home, currently many frail seniors are being admitted prematurely to long-term care. Digital transformation is necessary to enable us to provide effective supports to those who need them, at home, where they want to be.”

Across Nova Scotia and Ontario, staff members, volunteers, donors and community supporters helped make this vision a reality. “I am incredibly proud of what we have accomplished together,” said Jo-Anne. “Thank you for your continued commitment to our clients, caregivers, communities and to one another.”