In just over two decades, W21C has established a legacy that has included modernized hospital care, supporting digital health innovation, and bringing to the fore the need for living options for those of advanced age.
Based in the Cumming School of Medicine , W21C was established with the vision of making care better and has been at the forefront of health innovation for more than two decades.
Studies have underscored the need for strategic research and innovation to address upwards of 20,000 annual preventable deaths in Canadian hospitals. These coincided with an opportunity to redesign a ward at the Foothills Medical Centre, leading to the 2004 launch of The Medical Ward of the 21st Century (W21C), a prototype for advancing health-care delivery, research, education and technology.
"At its core, W21C’s vision emerged from a desire to improve care for hospital ward patients amidst rapid technological advancements at the turn of the millennium, seeking to integrate these advancements for the benefit of patients, health-care providers, and the environment in which care was delivered," says Dr. John Conly , MD, co-founder and former medical director of W21C.
A strong culture of innovation at W21C
The refurbished unit introduced features like enhanced infection-control measures, a four-bed observation ward with retractable bedside toilets, and 28 single-bed rooms - uncommon at the time. A strong culture of innovation was fostered, with health-care providers actively engaging in research and collaborating with the research team. This culture endures today, as W21C’s vision evolved into a "living laboratory" for testing models of care and health-care technologies.As the health-care system has evolved, so has W21C’s role in health-related innovation. In 2009, W21C moved to a new facility within the Cal Wenzel Precision Health Building, where it established the Healthcare Human Factors and Simulation Laboratory, a simulated clinical environment used to avoid disrupting active health-care operations. W21C can also take human-centred design testing away from the lab and into real-world locations, such as evaluating the design of ambulances to improve patient and provider safety or the design of spaces to support "aging in the right place." W21C also supports a wide range of clinical trial research, with projects spanning topics from gut health in people living with Parkinson’s disease rare blood disorders.
Years of remarkable growth
"Having been involved with W21C since its inception, I am immensely proud of its remarkable growth and transformation," says Dr. William Ghali , vice-president (research) at UCalgary and W21C’s executive co-leader. "W21C’s significant contributions to improving health care have established it as an integral component of the university’s expansive research and innovation ecosystem."Today, W21C’s transdisciplinary team collaborates with academia, industry, government, and the community. This is exemplified in W21C’s provincially funded Health Everywhere - a hub of digital health excellence. This initiative unites programs, leading experts and resources to facilitate the commercialization, spread, and scale of digital health technologies.
Looking to the future
Looking ahead, W21C is excited about what the next 21 years will bring. At the same time, it is reflecting on its origins as a living lab embedded in an active hospital setting. W21C is now working to expand that model and explore which other parts of the health-care system could benefit from a similar approach, including the operating room."The future of W21C is about bringing innovation into the settings where care actually happens including places where care occurs outside of traditional wards and clinics - partnering with clinicians, patients, and teams on the front lines as well as health-care leaders, academic experts, and industry innovators to design, test, and scale solutions that truly improve health systems," says Dr. Mary Brindle , MD, W21C academic advisor.
