W21C Background
The W21C Initiative is a research and innovation initiative based at the University of Calgary (U of C) and in the Calgary zone of Alberta Health Services (AHS). The W21C was created to respond to the urgent need for innovation in health care. The recent Canadian Adverse Events Study reported that as many as 20,000 deaths occur annually in Canadian hospitals from preventable adverse events. This finding has drawn considerable attention to the issues of safety and quality in health care, and produced calls for strategic research and innovation to derive solutions addressing the shortcomings and/or vulnerabilities in health care systems.
The W21C began in 2004 with the creation and opening of a state-of-the-art medical ward on Unit 36 of the Foothills Medical Centre (FMC) in Calgary. In 2008, the W21C received funding to accomplish the second phase in its infrastructure plan, constructing the new W21C Research and Innovation Centre in the Faculty of Medicine’s (U of C’s) Teaching, Research and Wellness (TRW) Building, which officially opened its doors in the Fall of 2009.
The guiding principle behind the W21C's collaborative 'Living Laboratory' is the belief that truly transformative research requires enhanced contact between researchers and health professionals. The goal driving this plan is to enhance cooperation and collaboration through a combined research and clinical space that otherwise might be difficult to accomplish.
The Initiative’s VISION is “to define the future of health care”, and its MISSION is “to innovate, create, educate, and evolve to build new paradigms of health care delivery”. Driven by these overarching statements, the W21C has aimed to catalyze health system innovation through the establishment of state-of-the-art clinical and research infrastructure that attracts multidisciplinary researchers to collaborate on innovative approaches to improving patient safety and quality of care. This MISSION is now being fully realized by a multidisciplinary team of local, national, and international experts working in the W21C’s unique Living Laboratory.
With a primary focus on improving patient safety and quality of care, the W21C has identified four key themes that define the initiative’s strategic priorities: 1) technology integration; 2) data, information, and knowledge flow; 3) communication and interaction; 4) organizational and regulatory Factors. More than 20 active W21C innovation projects support these key priorities and enable the W21C to realize the potential of strategic collaboration and investment in health innovation.
The W21C team represents a large number of disciplines: medicine, nursing, engineering, computer science, psychology, sociology, anthropology, economics, communications, environmental design, and library science. This scope of knowledge in the context of a shared focus on safety and quality of care produces a unique and exciting opportunity for innovative research and clinical care practices to emerge. Building upon this clinical infrastructure, there is a strong commitment from both the U of C and the AHS and other key stakeholders to advance the W21C’s Research and Innovation Agenda.