The COVID-19 pandemic forced everyone –  from governments, scientists, health systems, and the private sector – to work differently, almost overnight. The result was process and technology innovation deployment at unprecedented speeds. It was a stark contrast to the slow, often temporary, adoption of innovation. None of that would have been possible without the exceptional collaboration that occurred among stakeholders across sectors, both private and public.   This presentation will use examples from around the world and locally to discuss how we can continue to collaborate to engineer technological innovations and be bolder in adopting solutions to solve the next set of challenges facing the healthcare system, including strained health human resources, mounting wait lists, and structural and social barriers to care. 

There were huge inequities in rates of Covid-19 infection, hospitalization and deaths for low income and racialized groups. Data from the vaccination roll-out show similar disparities in immunization rates, but, these figures do not tell the full story. They do not tell the story of the many promising approaches developed at the community, primary care and hospital interfaces that have pushed Canada to the forefront of international discussions about sustainable health system recovery. This presentation will use examples from the pandemic to discuss how we can produce more effective and efficient health systems.