BRAMPTON, Ontario - October 23, 2007 - Cisco® Canada announced today that William Osler Health Centre, one of the largest hospitals in Ontario, is deploying a Cisco Medical-Grade Network at its 1.3-million-square-foot, ultra-modern Brampton Civic Hospital. By the time the facility opens to the public on Oct. 28, it will have the most extensive end-to-end, Internet Protocol (IP)-based healthcare network infrastructure in Ontario, connecting caregivers and patients more reliably and securely than ever before.

The Cisco Medical-Grade Network will provide Brampton Civic Hospital with a communications infrastructure converging voice, video, data and wireless in a single system. The IP-based network includes a Cisco Unified Communications system, including nearly 2,000 Cisco IP phones and Cisco Unified Communications Manager, Cisco's call-processing solution. The Cisco network at Brampton Civic Hospital is the only fully converged 10 Gigabit Ethernet network infrastructure in the Ontario healthcare system.

Additionally, Cisco's Medical-Grade Network serves the following equipment:

• the largest healthcare self-service registration kiosk in Canada, where patients can register themselves upon checking in to the hospital, cutting down registration time by 95 per cent
• caregiver wireless handheld devices, providing a single device for nurse calls, codes, telephony and medical alarms
• the largest robotic installation of an auto-dispensing system for medications in Canada
• bar code technology and patient barcode bracelets used for patient tracking, as well as for digital access to patient medical information
• patient bedside entertainment devices and phones, so that meal service, medication and care are never more than a button away
• TOMCAT, the highly integrated cardiovascular information system
• the first ever full implementation of PICIS's high-acuity software suite for emergency, peri-operative and critical care
• an automated system for emergency visits from triage to disposition
• biometric security sign-on to systems, where users can access a PC using finger-swiping technology rather than entering a username and password

"The Brampton facility is revolutionary in its use of technology in that every piece of equipment is IP-based and runs on the Cisco Medical-Grade Network," said Judy Middleton, chief information officer of William Osler Health Centre. "Our paperless environment promotes anywhere, anytime secure access to critical data, and was designed to improve the daily lives of staff and patients. This technology is an essential component to our commitment to delivering safe and compassionate care."

William Osler Health Centre chose to implement the Cisco Medical-Grade Network, deployed and managed by Bell Canada, to provide a new level of connectivity for doctors and caregivers. Doctors now have remote electronic access to patient lab results, prescription data and healthcare records. Additionally, location-aware solutions can quickly locate assets such as wheelchairs, crash carts and even patients, saving time and expense and enhancing safety. For patients, the Cisco Medical-Grade Network helps enable quick bedside access to nurses, faster prescription ordering and automated registration upon check-in to the hospital.

Steve Lawrence, healthcare business development manager for Cisco Canada, said, "The Cisco Medical-Grade Network enables organizations to deliver a quality of care previously unrealized in the industry. Healthcare organizations today demand 24-hour connectivity, and the network in place at Brampton Civic Hospital helps ensure that clinicians have the right information at the right time, and that patients have fast and reliable access to the care they need."

"For Bell, there is no more important work we do," said Stephane Boisvert, president, Bell Enterprise. "This technology solution will not only make a huge difference in the lives of patients and caregivers at Brampton Civic, but also holds great promise to ease the pressure on the entire healthcare system because it accelerates the delivery of quality care. And that benefits all of us."

"We feel that the possibilities for what we can do with the Cisco Medical-Grade Network are endless. Since every piece of equipment is IP-based, it allows all 10 facilities and their employees throughout Ontario to easily connect with each other, improving collaboration and expediting decision making across the entire organization. William Osler prides itself in offering caregivers, staff and patients access to the latest in technological innovation," said Middleton.

About William Osler Health Centre

William Osler Health Centre is one of the largest hospitals in Ontario serving a geographic area of over 2400 square kilometers. As a regional referral centre, Osler provides acute care and ancillary health care to nearly one million area residents in the growing and diverse communities of Etobicoke and Brampton, Ontario. Its newest facility is the Brampton Civic Hospital. William Osler Health Centre presently has approximately 600 beds and a health care team of 3,700 staff, 700 physicians and 900 volunteers. For information on the new Brampton Civic Hospital visit: www.williamoslerhc.on.ca

About Bell

Bell is Canada's largest communications company, providing consumers with solutions to all their communications needs, including telephone services, wireless communications, high-speed Internet, digital television and voice over IP. Bell also offers integrated information and communications technology (ICT) services to businesses and governments, and is the Virtual Chief Information Officer (VCIO) to small and medium businesses (SMBs). Bell is proud to be a Premier National Partner and the exclusive Communications Partner to the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Bell is wholly owned by BCE Inc. For information on Bell's products and services, please visit www.bell.ca. For corporate information on BCE, please visit www.bce.ca.