CITY OF SURREY – INNOVATION BOULEVARD
PROFILES of EXCELLENCE
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urrey is fast on its way to becoming a superior hub of health technology excellence. What was a concept little more than a year ago has quickly grown to become Innovation Boulevard, a onesquare-mile centre of healthcare technology anchored by Surrey Memorial Hospital and SFU Surrey, designed to accelerate realworld patient solutions.
At the core of this unprecedented project are Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts and SFU’ s Dr. Ryan D’ Arcy.
“ Health care technology is an industry that is developing at an unprecedented rate, and Surrey is in a unique position technologically and geographically to tap into this growth,” says Mayor Watts.“ The benefits to Innovation Boulevard will be significant; it will foster an environment for job creation and investment in Surrey, while improving health care outcomes for patients both in Surrey and around the world.”
Innovation Boulevard takes existing healthcare assets in Surrey and integrates them into a focused cluster towards advanced health care and economic development. Surrey Memorial Hospital, universities and businesses are working seamlessly together to ensure technology advances touch lives.
Dr. D’ Arcy noted the cluster aspect is what makes the concept so powerful.“ It’ s the proximity to integrated resources that will move innovation forward quickly,” he says.“ Technology is one of the fastest ways to affect change in health care.”
Innovation Boulevard’ s three focus areas are: medical technologies such as portable brain scanners; independent living technologies such as home monitoring; and digital health technologies such as electronic records management. Technology development and adoption is accelerated by providing access for companies and researchers directly to clinicians and the clinical environment to identify needs, refine prototypes and test integration into the health system.
The unique model of the project has attracted leaders from BC’ s public and private organizations: Simon Fraser University, University of British Columbia, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, British Columbia Institute of Technology, Surrey Memorial Hospital, the Provincial Government, Fraser Health Authority, industry associations, developers and health technology based companies have all come together in partnership.
“ Surrey has the advantage of being the geographic epicenter, which provides easy access from all points of the Lower Mainland,” says Mayor Watts.“ Add to this a growing pool of highly-educated people interested in healthcare, some of the lowest tax rates in the region, and the highest volume regional hospital in the province and it is clear why Surrey is the ideal location for Innovation Boulevard.”
Training, research and extending existing health care practices will all be incorporated into the various aspects of Innovation Boulevard.“ We are bringing the talent, the technology and the facilities together to create growth and prosperity in this field,” Dr. D’ Arcy noted.“ By focusing on health technology advances, we are establishing Surrey as a leader in the industry while helping to improve patient care.”
“ It’ s the proximity to integrated resources that will move innovation forward quickly. Technology is one of the fastest ways to affect change in health care.”
– Dr. Ryan D’ Arcy
SURREY CITY HALL 13450 – 104TH AVENUE SURREY, BC TEL 604-591-4011 WEB SURREY. CA / INNOVATIONBOULEVARD photo: Surrey is creating a health technology cluster known as Innovation Boulevard with Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts [ left ] and Dr. Ryan D’ Arcy [ inset ] at the helm.
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