At the heart of NLHS, the Living Lab powers bold, patient-centered, and value-driven healthcare innovation.
Transforming healthcare systems in Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services (NLHS) is the sole health authority in the province, delivering comprehensive healthcare services to over 510,550 residents in both urban and rural regions.
With approximately 22,174 employees, 1,165 physicians, and 1,844 volunteers, NLHS offers a vast range of healthcare services that span the continuum of care, from acute and emergency care to community-based, long-term care, and tertiary care.
The organisation provides primary and secondary care, surgical services, mental health and addiction programs, rehabilitation, and speciality services like nephrology and oncology. Focusing on addressing the diverse needs of its population, NLHS supports individuals across all life stages—from prenatal and paediatric care to senior and palliative care. These services are delivered through a network of hospitals, clinics, and community programmes across Newfoundland and Labrador, ensuring accessible, patient-centered care for all.
As the largest integrated health organisation in the region, NLHS combines compassionate care with transformative innovation, positioning Newfoundland and Labrador as a leader in patient-centred healthcare and medical technology development.
NLHS aims to improve health outcomes through an innovative, integrated, and sustainable health system.
Guided by its vision, ‘Health and Well-Being. Every Person’. In every community, the organisation fosters excellence through its core values of Innovation, Compassion, Accountability, Respect, and Excellence (I CARE).
A living lab for cutting-edge HealthTech solutions
Since its launch, the NLHS Living Lab has emerged as a transformative initiative that positions Newfoundland and Labrador as a uniquely accessible and structured testbed for healthcare innovation.
This real-world testbed enables local, national, and international partners to develop, test, and commercialise HealthTech solutions that deliver value to clinicians, patients, and stakeholders across the healthcare and technology ecosystem.
The Living Lab offers a rare and integrated environment within a full-spectrum healthcare system, setting NLHS apart from traditional HealthTech incubators and accelerators. It allows innovators to:
- Conduct rigorous safety and quality assessments in real-world settings.
- Validate use cases and product-market fit with real patients and data.
- Ensure that ethical, regulatory, and economic priorities remain central to innovation efforts.
Through its unique position inside an end-to-end healthcare system, the Living Lab facilitates collaboration and seamless integration of innovative solutions across the healthcare continuum.
The Department of Research and Innovation leads these efforts, guided by four pillars:
- Applying a value-based lens in decision-making.
- Establishing a Health Innovation Acceleration Centre.
- Cultivating a culture of innovation.
- Building local, national, and international partnerships within the innovation ecosystem.
Innovative solutions for complex challenges
NLHS’s Living Lab actively seeks solutions from diverse sources, including frontline staff, leadership, patients, and companies ranging from startups to established firms. It evaluates these innovations through an intake process that assesses their alignment with strategic initiatives, competitive advantage, and potential to solve real-world challenges.
Based on this assessment, NLHS offers tailored services:
- Collaborative development: For innovators seeking to co-develop solutions, NLHS provides expertise through collaborative agreements, co-building, and intellectual property (IP) arrangements based on a cost-recovery model.
- Testbed services: For companies seeking to test their solutions, the Living Lab offers fee-for-service (FFS) options across multiple stages of research and commercialisation:
- Pre-clinical Research: Includes a True Path Value Assessment to evaluate the minimum viable product (MVP) and human factors testing to ensure usability and regulatory readiness.
- Clinical Research: Ranges from acceptability trials assessing workflow integration to feasibility, effectiveness trials, and commercialisation support, often leveraging value-based procurement (VBP) to align costs with outcomes.
- Commercialisation support: Facilitates scaling solutions within NLHS and across diverse healthcare settings, with the potential to expand nationally and internationally.
Through these services, NLHS ensures innovations are rigorously tested, seamlessly integrated, and positioned for long-term success.
Delivering excellence at every level
From implementing HealthTech innovations to fostering global collaborations, NLHS is reshaping healthcare delivery in Newfoundland and Labrador.
By leveraging the unique capabilities of its Living Lab and advancing the goals of its Innovation Division, NLHS is positioned as a trailblazer in patient-centered, value-driven healthcare.
