Health Council reveals shortlist for fourth annual Health Innovation Challenge

Today, we announced the shortlist for the fourth annual Health Innovation Challenge. In September, we challenged college and university students to find innovative practices in Canadian health care, tell us why the innovations were working, and how they could be applied to the rest of the country.

Over 100 students across Canada participated, submitting a total of 74 essays explaining which innovative practices they think could change the future of health care in Canada. Entries came from students in many disciplines, including nursing, medicine, kinesiology, arts, engineering, indigenous studies, political science, and environmental science. The entry topics were just as diverse, including innovations in aboriginal health, emergency room wait times, rural health care, primary care, and chronic disease.

The Health Council of Canada identifies and shares hundreds of innovative practices from across the country on the Health Innovation Portal. Winning Challenge entries will be featured on the Portal and the Council’s digital properties when they are announced on April 2, 2013.

Winners will also receive a cash prize and the chance to apply for a summer internship at the Health Council of Canada office in Toronto, Ontario.

Congrats to all the amazing students who entered!

Full Shortlist: 

Category: Individual 

Dorothy Wang
Dalhousie University
Collaborative Emergency Centres Improve Access to Primary and Emergency Care in Rural Nova Scotia

Randi Jackson
Grande Prairie Regional College
Emergency to Home: Improving Health Outcomes for Seniors Across the Continuum

Mary Qiu
University of Toronto
Preventing Acute Care Hospital Readmissions Through the Use of a Virtual Ward

Jake Yorke
Dalhousie University
Collaborative Emergency Centres: Improving Access to Primary and Emergency Care in Rural Nova Scotia

Sophia Harrison
University of Northern British Columbia
A New Way Forward: Improving the Health Status of British Columbian First Nations with the Tripartite First Nations Health Plan

Category: Group

Farell Archibald, Nahanni Hasselfield, Crystal Goosney
Grande Prairie Regional College
The Hamilton-Wentworth HSO Mental Health Program

Haley Augustine & Rakesh Gupta
Dalhousie University
Chronic Disease Management Strategy: Diabetes Quality Collaborative

Kenisha Constable, Tannis Donaldson, Lindsey Jones
Grand Prairie Regional College
Saskatoon Health Bus

Aaron Lau, Alexandre Tran, Yvonne Tse
McMaster University
The McMaster PIPER Project: A Novel Approach to Interprofessional Education through Simulation-Based Learning

Kathryn Reid & Joshua Plante
University of Alberta
Changing Practice Paradigm through Innovative Policy