By Heather Hanson

As competition for personal protective equipment or PPE was heating up worldwide, health leaders in Nova Scotia knew they needed homegrown reliable solutions, and fast.

“Nova Scotia Health Research and Innovation has been working with our partners and stakeholders over the last year to develop a health innovation vision that supports and aligns with the Health Authorities key priorities. We have also been working diligently to develop an environment that fosters creative thinking to address traditional health care and system challenges,” said Dr. Gail Tomblin Murphy, vice president, research and innovation at Nova Scotia Health.

“The foundation of this work has meant that over the last few months, I have been able to pick up the phone to ask our partners for their help and support in addressing our health care team needs in the face of this pandemic. They have most definitely partnered with us and have stepped up.”

Quickly an Emergency Innovation Team was created and includes both health authorities (Nova Scotia Health and IWK Health Centre), Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia Business Inc. and the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA). The team meets daily to review all of the medical supplies that are in short supply and examine if and how they could be locally produced.

One of the first successes emerged from Dalhousie University.

Working with Nova Scotia Health they mobilized an interdisciplinary team from the Faculty of Engineering and NSCAD University to design and create a facial shield that would meet PPE standards and that could be quickly produced by local industry partners.

It was an example of innovation and reaching into industry to draw on the capabilities that exist in the Atlantic region.

Today multiple industry partners across Atlantic Canada have changed their current manufacturing processes to address PPE needs by producing medical supplies.

Stanfield’s is making medical gowns, MacKenzie Atlantic and Bouctouche Bay Industries are producing face shields and Authentic Seacoast Distillery is manufacturing hand sanitizer.

For Nova Scotia Health, one of the biggest challenges has been simply knowing what is possible with the capabilities of local industry. That’s where the knowledge and expertise of ACOA comes in.

ACOA helps innovation thrive in Atlantic Canada across many sectors and has been able to connect industry with health to find unique solutions during this pandemic, generating a lot of good will in what has been a difficult time for a lot of people and a lot of businesses.

To better evaluate and match Nova Scotia Health’s needs to potential design and manufacturing capabilities in the region, ACOA established a ‘skunkworks’ group. Skunkworks is a term given to a team that has been pulled together to radically innovate and research on an endeavour that falls outside of the organization’s regular mandate.

Tomblin Murphy notes that while the emergency innovation team identifies the areas of greatest need and helps identify the appropriate teams to work on those solutions, it is the skunkworks team that works with and identifies the manufacturing solutions.

This group includes engineers, manufacturers, life sciences experts, technology specialists and more, depending on the projects that are being discussed.

In addition to ACOA, one of the skunkworks lead innovators is Enginuity Inc., a creative engineering design company known for developing products to solve complex problems.

“Being able to draw on the talent of the skunkworks teams to create health care solutions is wonderful for our Nova Scotia Health's health care innovation team,” said Tomblin Murphy.

“It is inspiring to watch all of these skills and disciplines come together with a common purpose to help during this challenging time for the health and wellbeing of Nova Scotians. I’m confident that this entire experience will forever change our collective approach to health innovation in the future.”

While some supply solutions have been resolved in the short term, thought is now being given to long-term purchasing.

Additionally, since it has become known that local manufacturers have been tapped to produce medical supplies, other local organizations have been contacting the health authority to offer innovative alternatives on supplies and services.

Individuals and community groups have also come forward to offer help in any way they can, so many that ACOA and Ignite Atlantic are helping connect some of the offers with organizations that require PPE or other supports to deal with the pandemic.

“The response from our community to support health care and health care workers has been exceptional,” said Dr. Brendan Carr, President and CEO, Nova Scotia Health.

“We’ve received hundreds of calls and emails with innovative ideas and suggestions and we are filtering these ideas through the Emergency Innovation Team, or the skunkworks group or our purchasing team. I think we have all realized the importance of understanding and tapping into the talent and potential that exists here in our region.”

There is no shortage of work for the innovation teams at Nova Scotia Health.

Currently they are highly focused on finalizing a virtual care strategy and platforms that connects patients and their health care providers for online appointments and assessments, with other opportunities to support health care on the horizon.