With the help of Northern Illinois University and other healthcare providers, TriRivers Health Partners is seeking to establish a Regional Health Information Organization for northern Illinois and through a collaborative effort with the State of Illinois and other supporting partners TriRivers has received a State of Illinois Planning Grant to develop a plan for a Illinois Health Information Exchange.

Northern Illinois University is leading efforts on behalf of the TriLightNET Fiber Connectivity Project to obtain federal grants for all our partners for broadband development. This grant money, part of which stems from the U.S. government's most recent economic stimulus package, will help to improve healthcare information accessibility, improve the quality of our schools and help to drive economic development in northwestern Illinois.

What does all this mean to you?
The ultimate goal of the TriLightNET Fiber Connectivity Project is to promote transformation through technology.

TriRivers Health Partners' original goal – connecting FHN and SwedishAmerican Health System to improve healthcare for all our patients and serve the communities in which we live – is just a part of what we can accomplish.

As a sponsoring organization in Illinois Rural HealthNET, TriLightNET is part of a program linking healthcare facilities across the state. Our connections through Illinois Rural HealthNet and Northern Illinois University can take us into the Chicago loop and across the state.

By partnering to provide high-speed, reliable and cost-effective broadband access to organizations, schools, governments and other businesses, the TriLightNET Fiber Connectivity Project can serve as a high-speed communications gateway opening all of northwest Illinois to economic development.