Who owns and operates HealthyOntario.com?
HealthyOntario.com is owned by the Ontario Government and is operated by the Ontario Ministry of Health Promotion.
Can I get answers to specific medical questions?
HealthyOntario.com provides information on a wide variety of health topics, but cannot provide assessment, diagnosis, or counseling. If acute symptoms are being experienced, please contact your family doctor or
Telehealth Ontario at 1-866-797-0000.
In case of a medical emergency, please call 9-1-1 for assistance.
Is my personal information safe with HealthyOntario.com?
HealthyOntario.com is committed to protecting any personal information that may be collected through the site. Please read our Privacy Policy for more details.
My company would like to advertise on HealthyOntario.com. Does the site accept corporate sponsorships?
HealthyOntario.com is operated solely under the auspices of the Ontario Government. The site is independent of corporate and private interests and does not accept sponsorship.
Is a French version of HealthyOntario.com available? How can it be accessed?
HealthyOntario.com’s sister site, SanteOntario.com, offers health information to Ontarian francophones. SanteOntario.com can be reached directly from HealthyOntario.com via the “Francais” link in the upper right-hand navigational section of the site.
Who can I contact to suggest health-related topics for HealthyOntario.com?
Any content suggestions can be emailed to HealthyOntario.com’s
Editor. For alternate contact methods, please see our Contact Us page.
Who can I contact regarding technical problems with HealthyOntario.com?
For any technical comments or questions, please contact HealthyOntario.com’s
Webmaster by email. For alternate contact methods, please see our Contact Us page.
Who can I contact for assistance in registering for HealthyOntario.com’s monthly electronic newsletter?
For assistance with newsletter registration, please contact HealthyOntario.com’s Webmaster by email. For alternate contact methods, please see our Contact Us page.
How can I direct my existing monthly electronic newsletter subscription to a different email address?
To update the email address at which you receive your monthly electronic newsletter, first unsubscribe your old email address. After that it’s as simple as re-registering with your new email address. For assistance with this process, please contact HealthyOntario.com’s Webmaster. For alternate contact methods, please see our Contact Us page.
How can I stop receiving HealthyOntario.com’s monthly electronic newsletter?
Subscriptions to HealthyOntario.com’s monthly electronic newsletter can easily be cancelled by visiting our Subscription page. Enter the email address that your current subscription is sent to and click “Unsubscribe”. For assistance with this process, please contact HealthyOntario.com’s Webmaster by email. For alternate contact methods, please see our Contact Us page.
What does HealthyOntario.com offer that differs from other similar sites?
HealthyOntario.com offers information that is specifically tailored to the large number of Ontarians who regularly use the internet to research health topics. This is achieved through:
- Content that is specific to Ontario and Ontarians
- Content that is updated regularly and often
- Content that is available in both English and French
- Content that is accessible to Ontarians with disabilities
- Search functionality that provides easily understood and relevant results
- Access to medical experts for specific health-related questions
- Access to a large database of health services available in Ontario
How does HealthyOntario.com differ from the Ministry of Health’s website?
HealthyOntario.com and the Ministry of Health’s corporate website serve distinctly different purposes. HealthyOntario.com provides information on specific health issues to the public, while the Ministry’s corporate site provides information to the public, the media, and health professionals on matters of policy, and Ministry initiatives such as OHIP.
Is it cost effective for the Ministry of Health to maintain this added web presence?
HealthyOntario.com and its sister site, SanteOntario.com, cost approximately $1 million per annum to operate. Initial development of the site cost an additional $1 million in 2002. User response to the site in that time period has been excellent, consistently generating about 4.5 million hits per month. HealthyOntario.com has already won 10 awards for design, calibre of writing, and quality of health information; with more to come as the site continues to evolve entering 2008.
How was HealthyOntario.com developed?
In the initial stages of planning and development, the Communications Branch of the Ministry of Health worked hand-in-hand with an advertising agency and a team of web consultants to ensure the highest standards were being met in providing Ontarians with health information in a meaningful way. Virtual Learning Inc., a Canadian health information technology firm, built the portal and provided portions of the health databases. The remainder of the initial content came from Ministry sources.
Will private health companies, such as pharmaceutical companies, be involved with the site?
HealthyOntario.com is a government portal, and partners only with not-for-profit health organizations, such as:
What demographic is HealthyOntario.com intended for?
HealthyOntario.com was created to provide pertinent health information to all Ontarians with web access. The site has sections designed to specifically address the needs and concerns of children, men, women, and seniors.
How does HealthyOntario.com benefit Ontarians who don’t have access to the internet?
At present approximately two-thirds of Ontarians have internet access, with more households going online every year. As time passes, the number of people who are able to access the site from their own homes and workplaces will increase, while those same people are currently able to access the site from various government offices, as well as public libraries and other venues.
What parts of the site would be of particular interest to a first-time visitor?
Each of the sections linked to from the top navigational bar (children, men, women, etc) contains information specific to the group mentioned. Be sure to check out the relevant pages for yourself and your loved ones for access to featured stories, expert columns, and daily news.
To quickly find information on a specific health topic, we recommend using the Search field at the top left of the page or its associated Advanced Search page.
Also, be sure to check out the interactive Health Tools, accessible from the navigation section on the left of the page.
What organizations are currently partnered with HealthyOntario.com?
Current not-for-profit partners of HealthyOntario.com include:
Information on these, and other, partners is available on our Partners page. New partnerships are being formed regularly.
How does HealthyOntario.com relate to other Provincial and Federal health initiatives?
The federal government and other provincial governments have recognized the success of HealthyOntario.com and, in many cases, are working towards creating similar web presences of their own.
How does HealthyOntario.com ensure the reliability and credibility of its information?
All information on HealthyOntario.com is vetted for factual accuracy and readability by portal and Ministry staff, as well as HealthyOntario.com’s Chief Medical Editor, Dr. Michael Evans.
HealthyOntario.com’s Advisory Group, made up of experts in a variety of fields, also helps to establish the strategic direction of the site, ensuring that HealthyOntario.com will remain an industry-leading source of quality health information for years to come.
How current is the information on HealthyOntario.com?
HealthyOntario.com’s staff update the site daily with news items and features from a variety of sources, while archiving older pieces to ensure that what is seen on the site is only the most current information.
What is a portal?
Portals are websites that act as entry points to other related websites. On top of providing a wealth of information within its own pages, HealthyOntario.com provides direct access to other resources such as government-provided health services and the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons.
Why is the site called HealthyOntario.com rather than HealthyOntario.ca?
Both web addresses, HealthyOntario.com and HealthyOntario.ca, will bring you to the HealthyOntario.com site. HealthyOntario.com was chosen as the primary identity of the site because dot-com is a more commonly accepted format, making the name more memorable.
How is HealthyOntario.com promoted?
Promotion of HealthyOntario.com is, largely, incorporated into existing advertising campaigns. For example, the call to action at the end of West Nile Virus awareness ads in Ontario is to visit HealthyOntario.com for more information. HealthyOntario.com is also part of a comprehensive health information campaign run by the Ministry of Health. Many people initially find the site through linking from the Ministry’s corporate site.
Is it possible to receive information on specific health topics via email?
HealthyOntario.com offers a monthly electronic newsletter, designed to convey information on a range of current health topics. The newsletter is broken into the same categories as the site (children, men, women, seniors, conditions, drugs, etc) to allow you to quickly access information of interest to you.
How popular is HealthyOntario.com?
In January 2004, HealthyOntario.com enjoyed:
- 4.5 million hits
- 500 thousand page views
- 125 thousand unique visitors
- Special reports on pregnancy, heart heart and cancer
- Average visit lengths of 13 minutes