Glenrose gets $2.1M to boost research and innovation

Investment to help Alberta tech firms develop new healthcare aids

Story by Sharman Hnatiuk | Photo by Evan Isbister

EDMONTON — The federal government is investing in the expertise at the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital to enhance Alberta’s capacity to move healthcare products to the national and global market.

In December, the Government of Canada announced a re-investment of more $2.1 million through PrairiesCan towards the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital’s Research & Innovation program. This will assist industry with product design and validation, develop testing sites for new technologies and allow for access to clinical feedback and expertise on new solutions.

“Combining the expertise of our clinicians and therapists with industry partners has already turned research innovations tested on patients at the Glenrose into health solutions for Albertans across the province,” says Andrew Chan, Senior Program Lead, Glenrose Research & Innovation.

“This investment will help continue to facilitate the commercialization and scaling of made-in-Alberta technologies and solutions that help patients who require life-long rehabilitation and support.”

The investment will support health firms across Alberta working to refine prototypes and devices including wheelchairs, adaptive bikes, remote monitoring systems and wearable technologies. It also establishes a provincewide network of companies, post-secondary institutions and other organizations to bolster collaboration to bring new technologies to market.

As an Albertan working in the mobility device space for 25 years, Christian Bagg, Founder and Chief Technology Officer, Bowhead Corp., says he’s excited by the opportunity to secure funding to focus on innovation opportunities for manual wheelchairs with Glenrose patients.

“We have a growing population of people who can benefit from mobility equipment, and the industry has seen minimal changes in innovation towards the standard manual wheelchair for decades,” says Bagg.

The federal funding, directed through the Glenrose Hospital Foundation, enables Alberta technology firms to ramp up commercialization of in-demand mobility and home-health technologies.

“Bowhead has grown an amazing brand for outdoor adaptive mobility, so the time to make something better in mobility is now,” says Bagg.

“Thanks to the PrairiesCan re-investment in the Alberta health tech industry, companies like ours can collaborate with high-quality staff and therapists and have access to patients, helping direct our innovations for potential customers across the globe.”