In this episode of Advancing Health Care Through Simulation, Lisa George is joined by Tara Klassen, Innovation Lead for Surgical Care Alberta. With a provincial lens and a systems-level perspective, Tara works across programs, pathways, portfolios, and geographies to help clinical and operational leaders navigate what she calls “big, weird, shared, complex decisions.”

Tara explains why innovation in surgical care is about much more than introducing a new device or technology. It is about understanding what that innovation makes possible across the entire continuum of care, from referral and diagnostics through the operating room, inpatient recovery, and into community and home care.

Her work focuses on helping teams align around uncertainty, clarify shared goals, and move from ideas to actionable recommendations that are safe, feasible, and sustainable within a complex public health system.

Throughout the conversation, Tara unpacks some of the biggest barriers to implementing innovation, including funding structures, procurement realities, workflow disruption, and the challenge of introducing change in a system designed to manage risk.

She also makes a compelling case for simulation as a core tool in innovation, not just for training, but for testing, validating, and scaling new approaches across both urban and rural settings.

Key themes in this episode include:

why innovation must be understood at a systems and pathway level
the importance of early engagement with the health system
how shared language and shared vision drive successful collaboration
why simulation should be embedded across the entire innovation lifecycle
what sustainable surgical innovation looks like over the next decade
how Health Everywhere Hub and A-MEDICO are shaping Alberta’s innovation ecosystem

This episode offers a practical and insightful look at how innovation actually happens inside complex health systems, and what it takes to move from concept to real-world impact.

About:
NAIT Centre for Advanced Medical Simulation – Visit here

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