In this week’s examination of Cochrane history, we’re going back to the days before Skype, FaceTime and Zoom.
On the front page of the The Cochrane Times on April 3rd, 1998 was a story about Lady Minto Hospital making telecommunications history.
Public library Ardis Proulx-Chedore reads from the article.
“The local hospital became part of the province’s first foray into telemedicine as North Network held its inaugural lanunch, linking hospitals in Cochrane, Kirkland Lake and Timmins with Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto via two-way interactive television.”
Remember, that was 1998: only 23 years ago.
On that same front page was another story linked to telecommunications.
It was about town council and the board of trade trying to keep Air Creebec from pulling its passenger service to Cochrane.
Ardis Proulx-Chedore reads from that story.
“‘Our air traffic throughout the system is down ten, maybe 15%,’ said marketing and operational support manager Anne-Marie Farrington. She sttributes this decrease to more people doing business by telecommunications and not having the travel budget compared to years ago.”
For a treasure trove of documents and artifacts of Cochrane history, check out the library’s archives department.