This week the Ford government unveiled measures designed to take pressure off the healthcare system. Meanwhile, most people don’t know about one innovation that has been in place for more than a year and a half. The major Toronto hospitals have banded together to offer a Virtual Emergency Deparment. Emergency may be a bit of a misnomer because it is to be used to address urgent but not life-threatening conditions. Libby Znaimer got the details from Dr. Justin Hall, Deputy Chief of the Emergency Department at Sunnybrook Health Sciences. You can access the online portal at torontovirtualed.ca AND Salman Rushdie was greeted with thunderous applause at a Toronto PEN gala back in 1992. It was a momentous occasion that helped him emerge from hiding following Ayatollah Khomeini’s death threat against him. Then premier, Bob Rae, was one of the first politicians to meet and greet Rushdie publicly, appearing on stage with him . Libby spoke to Ambassador Rae after the horrific attack on Rushdie last week.