In this episode of Advancing Health Care Through Simulation, host Lisa George speaks with Andrew Karesa, Founder and CEO of blueBell Village, a community dedicated to redefining dementia and memory care through relationship‑focused services and interprofessional collaboration.

Andrew shares the personal story that inspired Bluebell Village, beginning with his grandmother’s Alzheimer’s journey. He explains how his vision for a dementia village evolved into Connect, a digital platform that brings caregivers, families, and service providers together to offer coordinated and culturally appropriate care.

Their conversation explores the realities of caregiving, the innovation gaps in dementia support, and the urgent need to design systems that respect personal independence and cultural context. Andrew’s work reflects the growing movement toward care models that prioritize relationships, empathy, and inclusion.

About:
NAIT Centre for Advanced Medical Simulation – Visit

This series was produced by Road 55 in Edmonton, Alberta – Learn more at: road55.ca

In this episode of Advancing Health Care Through Simulation, we sit down with Patty Wickson, a transformative leader with over 30 years of experience in health care innovation, clinical operations, and strategic systems. Patty shares her fascinating journey leading Alberta Health Services’ Innovation Office, where she and her team developed an “Innovation Pipeline” to accelerate health solutions from idea to system-wide implementation.

She reveals how her team brought groundbreaking projects to life—like a wound-healing gel that sped up recovery by 56%—and explains the fine balance between agility and evidence in large systems. Patty also shares her approach to cultivating “intrapreneurs” inside health organizations and how to foster frontline-led innovation.

From AI’s future in clinical workflows to the power of virtual care in remote communities, this episode explores the key ingredients behind meaningful health transformation—and what health innovators, clinicians, and system leaders can learn from it.

Key Topics:

• How to build a sustainable innovation framework inside large health systems
• The Innovation Pipeline process for rapid adoption
• Lessons from real-world projects with strong patient outcomes
• The role of “intrapreneurship” in driving workforce-led solutions
• Advice for early-stage health innovators
• The growing opportunities in AI, automation, and virtual care

About:
NAIT Centre for Advanced Medical Simulation – Visit

This series was produced by Road 55 in Edmonton, Alberta – Learn more at: road55.ca

In this episode of Advancing Health Care Through Simulation, host Lisa George speaks with Dr. Kelly Lackie, Associate Professor and Associate Director of Simulation-Based Education and Inter-professional Education at Dalhousie University's School of Nursing. Dr. Lackie shares her passion for inter-professional education (IPE) and how simulation is used to build equity, psychological safety, and collaborative practice in healthcare.

From developing protected IPE time and simulation-based assessments to championing inclusive education through patient partnerships and narrative research, Dr. Lackie offers valuable insights into what it takes to prepare learners—and educators—for meaningful, team-based care.
Whether you’re an educator, clinician, policymaker, or student, this conversation will deepen your understanding of how simulation can transform education, safety, and culture in health care.

Learn more about Dalhousie’s School of Nursing: nursing.dal.ca

About:
NAIT Centre for Advanced Medical Simulation – Visit

This series was produced by Road 55 in Edmonton, Alberta – Learn more at: road55.ca