MONTREAL – Hacking Health will hold an event on February 21-23 at CHU Sainte-Justine, in which doctors, nurses, healthcare professionals and health system administrators, will collaborate with computer scientists, technologists, programmers and designers in the creation of digital solutions to improve the health of mothers and their children in Quebec and the rest of the world.

Hacking Health works to improve healthcare by inviting technology creators and healthcare professionals to collaborate on realistic, human-centric solutions to front-line problems. The solutions may include games, apps, websites, web applications, services – anything is possible in this weekend of creativity and innovation.

“Montreal is the ideal location for this kind of event,” said Luc Sirois (pictured), co-founder of Hacking Health. “Situated at the intersection of advanced healthcare and software innovation, its creative communities are recognized throughout the world.”

“It is important to build bridges between healthcare professionals working in the field, with a full understanding of their needs in terms of new technology, and experts who understand how to develop these technical tools”, said Dr. Fabrice Brunet, Director General of CHU Sainte-Justine. “We are happy to host this event, which I’m positive will result in powerful digital solutions improving the health system and our patients’ visits.”

“Hacking Health CHU Sainte-Justine will accelerate us through the shared experience of open innovation and knowledge creation that will lead, I am sure, to innovations at once surprising, simple, often inexpensive and of great benefit to professional practice in health and social services. This event will also be an opportunity to experience a different but complementary way to develop the capacity for innovation in public organizations,” said Real Jacob, Professor and Director of Knowledge Management and Executive Training at HEC Montreal.

Registration: www.Montreal.HackingHealth.ca

About Hacking Health

Hacking Health is designed to improve healthcare by inviting technology creators and healthcare professionals to collaborate on realistic, human-centric solutions to front-line problems. Our hackathons and workshops are fun, intense, hands-on events where small teams tackle tough problems in a supportive community of peers and mentors. Events have been held in Montreal (February 2012), Toronto (twice), Vancouver and Edmonton, and are scheduled for 2014 in Capetown, Strasbourg, Hamilton, Calgary and Paris. For further information see http://www.hackinghealth.ca/about/about/

About CHU Sainte-Justine

The Centre Hospitalier Universitaire (CHU) Sainte-Justine is the largest mother-and-child care center in Canada and the second largest Pediatrics centre in North America – Dallas (737 beds), CHUSJ (484 beds), Atlanta and Philadelphia (430 beds each). A member of the University of Montreal’s network of Healthcare Centers of Excellence (RUIS), Sainte-Justine employs 5,143 employees, including 1,392 nurses and nurse auxiliaries, 1,036 health professionals, 520 doctors, dentists and pharmacists, 822 residents, more than 250 researchers, 300 volunteers, and 3,400 interns and students of all disciplines. CHUSJ has 484 beds, including 35 in the Marie Enfant Rehabilitation Center (CRME), the only center dedicated exclusively to Pediatric Rehabilitation in Quebec. The WHO (World Health Organization) has named CHU Sainte-Justine as part of its Health Promoting Hospitals network. For more information see chu-sainte-justine.org

About HEC Montréal

A world-class French-language business school with an emphasis on multilingual teaching, HEC Montréal has over 12,000 students and trains more than 7,000 executives and managers from all industries every year. The School holds numerous accreditations and offers some 40 academic programs at all levels of university education. With 264 professors and researchers trained at the world’s most prestigious universities, HEC Montréal boasts cutting-edge management teaching and research. Some fifty research units, including 26 chairs – 7 of them Canada Research Chairs – give the School its reputation for innovation, attracting students from close to 140 countries. HEC Montréal was Canada’s first business school and has trained over 71,000 students in all fields of management since its founding in 1907.