The Medical Dragons’ Den Will Showcase Innovative Healthcare Research in N.B.
SAINT JOHN – The Saint John Regional Hosptial Foundation is a regular supporter of medical research projects but once a year it funds a larger, high-profile one through the annual “The Give” campaign.
Jeff McAloon, the foundation’s president and CEO, says they receive great applications every year and make final decisions after inviting applicants to pitch their ideas to the committee in person – a process that typically happens behind closed doors in a boardroom.
“We always get inspiring projects. It’s a little frustrating that you can only choose one to show the public,” he says. “So we said, ‘Wouldn’t it neat if could neat if we could open up the doors and let the public see that process and be part of that process?’ There’s so many incredible programs at this hospital, so many innovative ideas at this hospital and amazing research, but people don’t hear about it.”
Well, now they will. Modeled after the popular CBC Dragons’ Den television show, the foundation’s Medical Dragons’ Den – the first of its kind in Canada – will showcase three innovative ideas for advancing healthcare in New Brunswick. The foundation hosted a pilot event last year at the BMO Theatre uptown. This year’s event will take place on a larger scale April 7 at the Imperial Theatre.
“[It’s] very much like the traditional model you see on TV,” says McAloon. “We’ll have three medical teams and medical projects that have been vetted.
“We had a large number of applicants and we narrowed it down to three. The three teams will present on stage for a very limited time in front of a live audience. Their goal is to convince the dragons that their project is more deserving than the other two teams’.”
The foundation is selling tickets to the event for $50 and hope to draw 850 people to be part of the live studio audience.
The “Dragons” investors are all accomplished people who would be at home on the CBC edition of Dragons’ Den: Scott McCain, president of JSM Capital Corporation; Dr. David Elias, president and CEO of Canadian Health Solutions; Anne McLellan, chancellor at Dalhousie University and former Deputy Prime Minister of Canada; and Steve Douglas, executive vice president and Chief Integration Officer with Nutrien.
The winning team receives $500,000 to fund their idea.
“The one slight difference between our version and what you would see on TV is that the Dragon’s are working together to choose one project,” says McAloon. “One project will walk away with half a million dollars that night to fund their entire project.”
McAloon says it’s understandable that most people aren’t generally aware of the medical research taking place at the hospital. Most people go to the hospital when they, or loved ones, are sick or injured. When you’re in the last place you want to be, you’re not really inclined to think about the research and neat things going on there.
“But those of us who are lucky enough to see behind the scenes see this incredible innovation. There are programs here that are unique in the province, unique in Atlantic Canada and among only a handful in all of Canada. In our typical New Brunswick way, we don’t often celebrate that,” says McAloon.
“We wanted to just pull back the curtain so that people could see these incredible projects and be proud of what’s happening in our healthcare system.”
This year, one team is presenting an operating room simulation centre. Another team is pitching a brand new program around minimally invasive sinus surgery. The third team is presenting a project to address the “comorbidity crisis,” which is the simultaneous presence of two chronic diseases or conditions in a patient.
The Dragons will be judging the teams based on a number of criteria: innovation, geographical impact, the impact on patients, the strategic nature of the investment, sustainability, the project timetable, and return on investment.
It’s no secret that New Brunswick health care system is facing challenges, from wait times to trying figure out how to manage the province’s aging population. Though it’s easy to dwell on the problems themselves, McAloon says there also needs to be a focus on those doing positive work to address some of these problems and improving care.
“We have got to energize them,” he says. “We have to get behind them as a community and give them dollars and give them ideas and give them positive energy to say, ‘We believe in you. We’re behind you.’ “
He says the Medical Dragons’ Den event brings together private- and public-sector philanthropy.
“We’re trying to blend that innovative culture that happens in the private sector with the innovation and ideas that are potential in the healthcare system, bringing those two worlds together. That to me is where I think the real magic of philanthropy happens,” says McAloon.
“Making a donation is a wonderful thing, but when you can be part of making a substantive change in the healthcare system, that’s philanthropy on steroids in my mind.”