Giving Changes Health Systems Innovation
Building a healthier future, together.
"Innovation includes technology but also innovative thinking about how our medical teams can collaborate effectively to ensure optimal health care delivery, close to home."
Dr. Cara Wall, Hospitalist, Chief of Staff, KGH
Rethinking what’s possible in health care.
Innovation is about more than new technology. It’s about new ideas, partnerships, tools and approaches that improve care, increase efficiency and respond to the evolving needs of patients, families and health care teams.
Through Closer to Home Than You Think, nearly one-third of the campaign goal was dedicated to innovation, supporting projects that address today’s health care challenges while helping build a stronger, more responsive health system for the future.
Health innovation is the development of new ideas through collaborative initiatives, industry partnerships, and research to transform patient care and enhance the efficiency of the health system. It can be categorized into four distinct areas:
RESEARCH
Analyzes best practices and implements learnings to current practice.
BREAKTHROUGH
Develops a new process or system that has significant wide-sweeping impact on regional health care.
SUSTAINABLE
The ongoing development of process efficiencies to continually improve the delivery of care.
DISRUPTIVE
Challenges the status quo and advocates for community concerns to drive change.
THE FUTURE OF HEALTH CARE
From new ways of delivering care and training health care teams to testing emerging technologies and building new partnerships, here are just a few examples of health systems innovation made possible through the campaign.
Keeping Families Connected Between Appointments
For families managing pediatric Type 1 Diabetes, questions and concerns don’t wait for the next clinic appointment. Through Project IMPACT, families can now connect directly with their diabetes care teams using secure, two-way text messaging to ask questions, receive timely guidance, and get support when they need it.
What began in Vernon in 2021 has since expanded through multiple phases to Kamloops, Kelowna, Penticton, Trail, and Nelson. This innovative approach is helping families feel more supported and confident in managing their child’s diabetes, while allowing clinic appointments to focus on other important aspects of care, including mental health and emotional well-being.
And the results are significant. Families enrolled in the program experienced nearly 50% fewer diabetes-related emergency department (ED) visits after joining, demonstrating how something as simple as texting can make a meaningful difference in care.
Project IMPACT by the numbers
families supported throughout the project's 4 Phases
of families remained enrolled in the project after Phase 4
fewer diabetes-related ED visits after enrolment
Bringing Hospital-Level Care Into Your Home
The Hospital at Home (HAH) brings hospital-level care to eligible patients in the comfort and familiarity of their own homes. A multidisciplinary health care team provides remote monitoring, virtual check-ins and in-person visits, with a virtual call bell and direct phone line connecting patients to their care team 24/7.
Donor support funded two fleet vehicles and essential equipment to help launch the program. A new wireless Point-of-Care Ultrasound (PoCUS) device has expanded what physicians can do at the bedside, providing real-time cardiac, lung, abdominal and vascular imaging without requiring patients to return to KGH.
Since its launch, HaH has already made a meaningful impact by reducing the number of beds in use at KGH, and, quite literally, bringing advanced care closer to home.
Hospital at Home by the numbers
Admissions to the HaH program since launching
KGH bed days saved since launching! (as of Sept 2026)
Jim Pattison Centre for Health Systems Learning + Innovation
Established through a $5 million gift from the Jim Pattison Foundation, the Jim Pattison Centre brings health care, research, industry and community partners together to tackle real health system challenges.
The Centre helps move promising ideas into practice, creating opportunities to test new solutions in real-world health care settings, learn from the results and expand approaches that work.
For more information, please visit jpcentre.ca
Innovation Across Health Care
Throughout Closer to Home Than You Think, innovation has helped advance cardiac care, cancer care, brain health, mental health, surgical excellence and care in the community. From small quality-improvement projects to entirely new models of care, each started with an opportunity to do something differently.
Together, these investments are helping health care teams test ideas, learn, adapt and find better ways to care for people across our region. Thank you for making this progress possible.
HEALTH SYSTEMS INNOVATION
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