As the first of its kind in Canada—if not the world—the FNHA had to build an IT system from scratch while creating interfaces with, and accessing data from, a variety of existing health authorities at federal, provincial, and regional levels.

The First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) is a nonprofit organization formed in 2013 to help more than 200 First Nations communities across the province take control to improve the health outcomes of their members.

The technical challenges were (and continue to be) exacerbated by the lack of Internet—or even transportation—connectivity in dozens of the small, low-density, and frequently remote communities the FNHA serves. In the mountainous and island-dotted province, some of those communities and the health providers supporting them can’t be accessed by road, only boat or seaplane. Meanwhile, the human challenges include an historical lack of trust in government or quasi-government agencies—a distrust justified by decades of discrimination, neglect, and broken promises.

In this tough environment, Steven Ma has worked since 2014 to create a technology infrastructure that enables change and improves health outcomes. As the FNHA’s director of core technology, infrastructure, and cybersecurity, he works with a team of 20 to support 1,000 FNHA employees, 50 to 60 dispersed health centers, and nearly 200,000 FNHA clients. From the start, Ma decided to work with F5.