McKenna Institute: Powering healthcare transformation at the Digital Innovation Summit

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On June 16 and 17, leaders from across New Brunswick gathered in Saint Andrews for the fourth annual McKenna Institute Digital Innovation Summit, hosted by the Hon. Frank McKenna, founder of the McKenna Institute and Dr. Paul Mazerolle, president and vice-chancellor of the University of New Brunswick.

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This year, we themed the summit around digital health care, and the message could not have been clearer: the future of our health system depends on how effectively and quickly we embrace digital transformation.

Over the course of two days, our audience of health leaders from government, industry, and academia along with executives from across other industries heard from health executives, national policy leaders, startup innovators, and researchers. What connected them all was a common goal of creating conversation around how digital solutions can help address critical issues in New Brunswick and Atlantic Canada.

We were delighted to be joined by New Brunswick ministers Hon. Dr. John Dornan, Minister of Health, and Hon. Luke Randall, minister responsible for Opportunities New Brunswick, one of the summit’s sponsors.

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Tony Gaffney from the Vector Institute delivered a keynote that laid out the challenge and opportunity in stark terms on a national scale. Canada possesses world-class public health institutions, leading AI research, and unmatched population health data – but lacks a modern, coordinated, interoperable national health data platform.

While countries like the UK and Denmark are embedding health data into their economic strategies, Canada still has work to do. Gaffney’s call to action? Treat sovereign health data as essential national infrastructure. Use it not just to improve care, but to build a thriving digital health economy that creates jobs, attracts investment, and delivers better outcomes for Canadians.

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This sense of urgency was echoed in the panel discussion Tuesday, where health leaders from across Atlantic Canada shared how our region is uniquely positioned to lead the charge. Dre France Desrosiers (CEO, Vitalité Health Network), Margaret Melanson (CEO, Horizon Health Network), Scott McKenna (Chief Information Officer, Nova Scotia Health), Christopher Gillis (Chief Transformation and Strategy Officer, Health PEI), and Dr. Dante Morra (Founder and Chair, CAN Health Network) offered bold, practical reflections on how innovation can be embedded into every level of care – from mental health to primary care to aging at home.

Their message was clear: New Brunswick and Atlantic Canada are the ideal proving grounds for healthcare innovation. With our size, connected systems, and strong sense of collaboration, we can test solutions quickly, learn fast, and scale what works across the country. As Melanson pointed out, our aging population makes us a microcosm for what much of Canada will face in the coming years. Desrosiers reminded us that private sector agility and a results-driven mindset must be embraced in public healthcare if we are to keep pace with innovation.

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Scott McKenna emphasized the importance of citizen-centric care, where health data moves with the individual – not just within hospitals or regional systems, but across their whole journey. Gillis reinforced that point by highlighting the need for digital health literacy and user design that earns trust from the people we serve.

Morra, bringing the national lens, spoke to the power of a regional innovation corridor and the opportunity for Atlantic Canada to be a national testbed. He challenged us to move quickly, protect bold leaders willing to tackle the hardest problems, and lean into this moment as one of nation-building – not just service reform.

As these ideas were exchanged, a major new step forward was also announced. During the summit, we launched the i4 Initiative, a multi-phase research and innovation collaboration between the McKenna Institute and Shoppers Drug Mart. This new initiative’s aim is to inform, innovate, improve, and implement health care solutions through a series of collaborative research and development projects.

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The first project focuses on cardiovascular and diabetes care. The initial research was led by Dr. Chris Folkins and supported by Dr. Ted MacDonald at the New Brunswick Institute for Research, Data and Training (NB-IRDT) and used provincial health data to explore where gaps in care exist and where we can intervene earlier and more effectively. The next phase, a rapid innovation challenge led by UNB’s Pond-Deshpande Centre, translated those insights into real-world solutions. A call for proposals will follow to provide funding for research and innovation projects to help close the gaps in diabetes and cardiovascular care across the province.

This is what we mean when we talk about digital healthcare transformation. We are using data to target needs, innovate solutions, and implement them at speed. And doing so in partnership with researchers, government, industry, and community at the table together.

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The theme of collaboration continued in the afternoon of June 17 where six companies from across Canada presented pitches to our engaged healthcare leaders on how their products can address the critical priorities facing healthcare in New Brunswick and Atlantic Canada.

This year’s summit made clear New Brunswick is not just participating in the conversation but is helping to lead it. From provincial initiatives like the new clinical information system (CIS), to cross-sector data trusts, to health startup activity, our province is demonstrating how digital tools can support a more resilient, responsive, and equitable health system.

We are building the partnerships and laying the groundwork for a smarter future in health care. But we need to act with purpose and coordination. And we need to ensure our citizens, particularly those in underserved or aging populations, are not only included, but empowered.

Thank you to everyone who joined us in Saint Andrews and to our sponsors, Opportunities New Brunswick, Working NB, Shoppers Drug Mart, EY, and VeroSource Solutions. Your participation in this movement matters. The summit reflects what is possible when we work together. We’re not just trying to imagine a better healthcare system. We’re working to build it.

Adrienne Oldford is the Executive Director of the McKenna Institute at the University of New Brunswick.

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