Swift founder receives Governor General’s award

TORONTO – The Governor General’s Innovation Award has been awarded to Dr. Sheila Wang (pictured), co-founder and chief medical officer of Swift Medical, for her leadership in the creation of an artificial intelligence-driven technology that improves accessibility and quality of care for patients with wounds.

This week, the Rideau Hall Foundation announced the recipients of the sixth annual Governor General’s Innovation Awards. The Awards recognize and celebrate outstanding Canadian individuals, teams, and organizations for their excellence in innovation and their contributions to helping shape our future and positively impact our quality of life. Dr. Wang is one of six distinguished recipients of this year’s Awards.

Dr. Wang is a renowned clinician-scientist and innovator who has dedicated herself to solving one of the greatest, and often overlooked, challenges in health care: wounds. In 2015, Dr. Wang co-founded Swift Medical with the vision to improve the quality of care for wound patients.

Along with her fellow founders, she created a user-friendly mobile app with advanced machine vision and artificial intelligence functionality to empower clinicians with the best possible wound care technology at every bedside.

Today, Swift Medical’s solutions have been adopted by over 3,900 healthcare organizations, including leading health systems, hospitals, home care agencies, and long-term care organizations.

In addition to her work with Swift Medical, Dr. Wang is currently completing her residency in Dermatology at McGill University. She has been the recipient of past awards that include the 2019 CMA Young Leader Award, the 2018 Quebec Excelsior Award, and the 2019 Joule Innovation Award.

Last year, in response to the emerging COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Wang and her team led the creation of Telewound Care Canada, a pan-Canadian initiative to help highly vulnerable wound patients access remote wound care in their homes, while unable to access traditional in-person care due to pandemic anxieties and public health measures.

“This is a team win for Swift Medical,” says Dr. Wang. “It is a privilege to work with my co-founders, Justin, Carlo and Edwin, and the diverse team of people at Swift Medical who are talented, visionary, and committed to building tools that transform health care and improve patients’ lives.”

A virtual event celebrating the 2021 GGIA Laureates will take place on May 20, 2021 during Canadian Innovation Week.

About Swift Medical
Swift Medical is the world leader in digital wound care. Their technology is used by over 3,900 healthcare organizations across the continuum of care to improve the prevention, assessment, treatment and management of wounds. To learn more about Swift, visit them at https://swiftmedical.com.