Health Innovation Roundup
May 20, 2026

Health Cities unveils framework for collaborative problem-solving

Health Cities, a non-profit that has long convened innovators in health, is now working on a way to make the ecosystem's innovative ideas more actionable and accessible through the Health Innovation Network, which CEO Reg Joseph unveiled at an event on May 13.

This was an unveiling and not a launch, Joseph told Taproot, because the network's current form is a beta version that will be shaped by a variety of stakeholders invested in a healthier world. "How do we look at new models, new ways of innovating to solve big, big problems within the system?" Joseph asked an energetic crowd at the Bison Lodge. "What I really want from all of you … and the reason why you've been invited here, is that we need your brain. You need your mind. We need your ideas." Accordingly, there is a feedback survey intended to shape the network's real debut, which Joseph said will come this fall.

In that spirit of cross-sector collaboration, Health Cities also announced on May 13 that it is leading a project called Smart Care Clinic to embed innovation into primary care. Its partners are Sage Seniors Association and Victoria-based Care2Talk Health, which describes itself a private healthcare network. Joseph told Taproot that the collaboration is meant to leverage private strengths for public good as the consortium tries out innovations, not an effort to further the encroachment of private healthcare on Canada's publicly funded, universal system. He believes the Health Innovation Network and Smart Care Clinic can improve access to care. "We're going through significant change in Alberta's healthcare system," he told the May 13 crowd. "That has created opportunities, and we want to capitalize on those opportunities, and we want to get the power of all of you behind those opportunities to help us figure out how to solve some of these problems."

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Headlines

Fairly Staffing and RNARevive are among the Top 5 selected for the finale of Startup TNT's Edmonton investment summit on May 28. Joining them are non-health companies hi finance, Innovative Coating Technology Systems, and T.rex AI. Darkhorse Emergency, a decision-analytics provider for emergency services, received $1 million in repayable funding from Prairies Economic Development Canada as part of a $6.8-million funding announcement made at Upper Bound on May 19. "We applied for this money to support our growth and scaling, both within Canada and internationally," said Darkhorse Emergency president Daniel Haight. "We're using most of this to support our sales and marketing efforts, and to grow our team, but of course it also has a trickle-down effect throughout the business as we build out AI products and AI capabilities internally to better serve our customers." The University of Alberta received $3 million in non-repayable funding to advance its Canadian AI Compute Vault, which aims to build out infrastructure to strengthen Canada's tech sovereignty.
RUNWITHIT Synthetics is working with the University of Waterloo on a synthetics lab accessible to students, government, private sector, and community, co-founders Myrna and Dean Bittner told Taproot during a Health Cities event unveiling the new Health Innovation Network. The company has also been accepted into the inaugural MaRS Adaptech Accelerator to further its work on climate change adaptation.
Innovotech has received up to $234,000 from the National Research Council Industrial Research Assistance Program to develop antimicrobial testing services for medical devices. In a separate Q1 update, it reported revenue of $648,140 and a net loss of $401,295.
The University of Alberta now offers a dashboard that gives real-time local air quality ratings to help people decide when to go outside, creators told CBC Edmonton's Radio Active.
The College Connect system built by Punchcard Systems for the College of Registered Nurses of Alberta has handled about 200,000 licensing transactions since 2022, the organizations said in a news release. The platform helped cut licensing timelines from months to minutes in many cases, said a sponsored content piece published by BetaKit.
Edmonton-based Julie Drolet is leading the University of Calgary's development of the Digital Disaster Document System to help people securely store essential records before floods, wildfires, and other emergencies.
Donna Vine of the University of Alberta celebrated the news that polycystic ovary syndrome will now be called polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome. The renaming is meant to better encapsulate what the condition actually does, and that clarity may lead to better health outcomes. "It's very exciting for patients with PMOS because they will have better care. They will know and understand their disease better," Vine told CBC.
NorQuest College has added hands-on mental health simulation training to its practical nursing program, CTV News reported. The training was developed with the Mental Health Foundation and Delnor Construction.
Dóchas Psychological Services director Kim Long explored building her practice during the COVID-19 pandemic and what she has learned on the Women in Leadership and Entrepreneurship podcast.
Global Edmonton broadcaster Erin Chalmers discussed caregiving after her mother's Alzheimer's diagnosis and the challenges families face navigating fragmented support systems on an episode of the Dementia Collective podcast from blueBell Village.

Social innovation

An AI tool called wâsikan kisewâtisiwin has found its first beta tester in TELUS. The tool, which is designed to help non-Indigenous users avoid biased language about Indigenous Peoples, will also be hosted on the TELUS Sovereign AI Factory. "Our partnership with TELUS is an exciting step forward for our company and a significant validation of what we have created," founder and CEO Shani Gwin said in a release ahead of the announcement at Web Summit in Vancouver.
The federal and provincial governments have committed $323 million to fund 41 affordable housing projects across Alberta. The investment, announced May 13, aims to create 2,700 new affordable homes, addressing the growing need for housing in communities throughout the province. The funding, which comes from Alberta's Affordable Housing Partnership Program, will benefit municipalities including Edmonton and surrounding areas.
Community members gathered at Edmonton city hall for the fifth annual Moose Hide Day gathering, standing against gender-based violence affecting Indigenous women, girls, and Two-Spirit people. The city co-hosted the event with the Indigenous Sport Council of Alberta as part of the national Moose Hide Campaign.
Women-in-trades advocate Jamie Thiessen of NAIT explored curiosity, inclusion, and leadership practices meant to build psychological safety on the Unapologetic podcast with Erin Davis.

More health news

St. Albert voted unanimously on May 19 to maintain its integrated ambulance service, which comes with an estimated 1.2% tax increase. "The prudent approach, in my view, is to continue the integrated model while watching the experiences and outcomes in other municipalities that have transitioned away from these services over the coming years," said Coun. Sandy Clark when introducing the motion that kept the status quo. "We do not need to be first." Strathcona County council made the same decision, but Spruce Grove city council voted against absorbing the additional costs, as did Leduc city council.
Alberta is investigating the death of a man who died after waiting six hours in Edmonton's Royal Alexandra Hospital emergency room. Physician Paul Parks of the Alberta Medical Association highlighted severe overcrowding as a persistent issue. Alberta Health Services and Acute Care Alberta are reviewing the case to propose improvements.
In a Cabin Radio investigation, patients from the Northwest Territories reported gaps in medical travel coordination for care in Edmonton, including escort rules, communication problems, and delays in follow-up treatment.
The Royal Alexandra Hospital is implementing metal detectors after calls for advanced security measures that followed a stabbing.
Disability advocate Zachary Weeks argued in a policy analysis post that Alberta's shift from Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped to the Alberta Disability Assistance Program introduces stricter employment conditions and lower monthly support for some recipients. "Under the previous AISH framework, recipients generally were not expected to actively pursue employment if they medically qualified for the program," he wrote. "The new ADAP regulations introduce explicit employment participation expectations."
University of Alberta microbiologist Jason Tetro jokingly predicted the hantavirus could lead to a pandemic back in 2012, which has blown up online as the virus has become part of the zeitgeist. "If you want to make a real pandemic, make hantavirus human-transmissible," is the quote that made him go — for lack of a better word — viral, he told CBC's Edmonton AM.