A technology company based in Kelowna this month trimmed its workforce by up to 10%, local newspapers reported over the weekend.
The round of layoffs at the electronic medical records platform, founded in 2004 and acquired by Loblaws through Shoppers Drug Mart in 2016 for $170 million, impacted dozens of staff.
“Although this a relatively small number compared to QHR’s 480 person team nationally, we do not take these decisions lightly,” a company spokesperson stated.
Company president Mike Checkley said the layoffs came about as a result of “restructuring,” and that they were part of natural business cycles of expansion and contraction, noting how the firm has grown steadily since the Loblaws transaction, but that growth is “not linear.”
QHR launched two decades ago with a vision to improve healthcare through modern technology.
“It’s about better communication pathways that bring patients and healthcare professionals closer together,” reads a company statement. “It’s about technology that creates more efficient interactions and changes the fundamental nature of how we provide and receive healthcare. But most importantly, it’s about people and technology working together to make healthcare, and the quality of life that comes with it, better for Canadians.”
More than 20,000 providers across Canada use QHR’s platform, including over 3,300 in British Columbia.
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