Health Cities is seeking expressions of interest from vendors offering solutions that can safely and sustainably support Alternate Level of Care (ALC) residents, particularly those with complex mental health, addiction, and behavioural needs.  

We are targeting practical solutions that address the critical intersection of workforce capability, physical environment, and workflow readiness. In collaboration with a participating supportive living partner, this initiative will test and evaluate technologies designed to:

  • Improve the physical environment and infrastructure to accommodate complex needs safely 
  • Reduce staff reliance on manual effort, workarounds, and memory
  • Equip staffing models with the tools, training, and support structures required for higher acuity care
  • Streamline workflows to allow staff to focus on direct resident care
  • Support a safe, dignified, and recovery-oriented living environment

Selected solutions must be deployable within a functioning congregate care environment, require reasonable levels of onboarding and training, and be ready for a practical pilot with the potential to expand to additional sites across Alberta. 

Priority Focus Areas

Focus Area #1: Infrastructure and Environment 

Priorities/Goals:

  • Improve line-of-sight visibility and manage access safely without creating a restrictive or institutional feel. 
  • Support safe physical spaces adaptable to existing older buildings. 
  • Enable timely staff response while maintaining a dignified environment for residents and staff. 
Focus Area #2: Real-Time Monitoring and Risk Management 

Priorities/Goals:

  • Detect and provide early warning for behavioural escalation, elopement risk, or safety events. 
  • Reduce reliance on manual observation by providing clear, actionable insights to staff. 
  • Respect resident privacy while minimizing unnecessary monitoring burden and false alarms.
Focus Area #3: Workforce Capacity and Workflow Optimization 

Priorities/Goals:

  • Automate or streamline non-clinical, administrative, and repetitive tasks to free up staff time. 
  • Improve the coordination of routine tasks, supply movement, or delivery support. 
  • Reduce low-value workload without attempting to replace frontline care staff. 
Focus Area #4: Resident Engagement and Independence 

Priorities/Goals:

  • Provide digital recreation, therapy, or personalized engagement tools to reduce boredom. 
  • Support residents to participate in daily routines with greater independence. 
  • Sustain engagement safely without requiring continuous one-to-one staff supervision. 
Focus Area #5: Workforce Upskilling and Readiness  

Priorities/Goals:

  • Provide in-the-moment learning and continuous capability building for complex mental health care and de-escalation. 
  • Deliver practical, scenario-based skills training (e.g., virtual simulations) that integrates into daily workflows. 
  • Address adoption barriers by supporting staff onboarding, change management, and confidence with new tools.

Solution Requirements

Requirements: 

  • Appropriate for ALC populations with complex mental health or addiction needs. 
  • Maintain a non-institutional, culturally safe environment. 
  • Respect resident privacy and autonomy. 

Requirements: 

  • Suitable for retrofit installations in existing buildings with minimally invasive installation. 
  • Operate alongside existing systems and physical infrastructure. 
  • Minimize false positives, alert fatigue, and manual data entry. 

Requirements: 

  • Commercially available or pilot-ready solution 
  • Deployable within an active supportive living environment 
  • Include onboarding, installation, and staff training 
  • Require reasonable levels of staff effort to operate 

Requirements: 

  • Solution can be deployed and used in Alberta 
  • Technically and operationally feasible within the defined pilot scope 

Trial Scope and Operational Requirements

Initial implementation is expected to occur in a dedicated facility with up to 30 beds. 

Vendors should describe: 

  • Technical and operational feasibility at this pilot scale. 
  • Any minimum installation thresholds or deployment requirements. 
  • How the solution could scale to broader use across other sites if successful. 

Solutions must fit with staff workflows where capacity is limited and workflow simplicity matters. Solutions must function reliably to prevent staff from reverting to manual workarounds.

Data, Reporting, and Evaluation Requirements

Requirements: 

  • Solutions must comply with all relevant Canadian regulatory, privacy, and security standards. 
  • The participating operating partner will retain full custodianship of all resident and staff information. 
  • Only strictly de-identified or aggregated information will be shared with Health Cities and third-party evaluators for reporting purposes. 
  • Vendors must support the collection of operational data required for evaluation. 

This Call for Innovation closes June 15, 2026.

Submit your Expression of Interest
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