The Pulse
Sept. 5, 2024

The people behind growing child-intervention agency CarePros are launching a new company that offers the software they have developed to allow healthcare providers in Alberta and beyond to focus less on paperwork, data encryption, and data insights, and more on actual care.

"The focus is to streamline workflows," CarePros co-founder Alex Gervais told Taproot. "(We want) to give frontline staff, child (and) youth care workers, counsellors, and social workers more time back away from their administrative duties to provide direct care."

The new company and its software are called Nurture. The software, derived from tools CarePros developed for its own work, is based on the web and is targeted at social workers and other professionals.

CarePros, which placed 23rd on The Globe and Mail's list of Canada's top growing companies in 2022, is a service provider for children with complex behavioural needs. It's pre-qualified by Alberta Health Services to serve this population, and its team totals around 300 people, who operate in the Edmonton region, Grande Prairie, and Red Deer. The organization offers in-home care, out-of-home care, foster care, therapy, and more.

Charles Wong, the CEO and co-founder of CarePros and the executive chair and co-founder of Nurture, told Taproot the original company's dedication to efficiency has helped it reduce costs, improve the experience for those providing care, and free up time for client care.

"We always ask ourselves: 'How do we deliver more value to our clients or stakeholders and rights holders?'" Wong said. "Essentially, the question is how do we improve the efficiency and effectiveness of direct care that we're offering to very complex, high-behaviour, highly traumatized children and youth?"

That focus, Wong said, led CarePros to create Nurture. The tool is part of what already powers the main organization. It uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to optimize processes. Its success led Wong and Gervais to realize it had value as a product for others.

"We identified the feedback and the positive experience that our team members within CarePros had, who said that there was nothing like it on the market," Gervais, the vice president of corporate services for CarePros and the CEO of Nurture, said. "As we expanded the feature set within Nurture, that's when we began chatting with other agencies. There's significant interest in doing pilot programs with other (health) agencies across the province and into B.C."

Building Nurture wasn't necessarily Plan A. Instead, the CarePros team found a problem and decided to solve it.

• Edmonton and Calgary both recorded their hottest-ever July, continuing a trend of record-breaking weather in Alberta. On Sept. 2, multiple parts of the province, including the Edmonton International Airport and Elk Island National Park, broke single-day temperature records. Edmonton is forecast to see daily highs of 30°C on Sept. 6 and 7. Overall, Edmonton's summer has been the third-warmest in history, after the city experienced record-breaking cold this past winter.
• Wasp outbreaks across the Prairies late this summer may be driven by unusually hot weather in July, but wasp activity has similar patterns every year, experts say. The insects laid eggs all summer, and now a new generation of wasps is being drawn to human food as other food sources, like flower pollen, are depleting. "People give them a bad rap," said University of Alberta entomologist Maya Evenden. As pollinators, wasps play a major role in ecosystems, including suburban backyards, Evenden said. So far this year, City of Edmonton pest management teams have removed 374 wasp nests, compared to a total of 121 last year.
• The Edmonton Transit Service introduced new On Demand Transit routes to Rundle Park and the ACT Aquatic and Recreation Centre, with new bus stops outside the ACT Centre and the Rundle Family Centre. The newly renovated aquatic centre offers a "unique warm water experience," and the facility has a gymnasium, pottery studio, sensory room, food vendor, and multiple sports facilities, the City of Edmonton said in a release. On Demand Transit service to the new stops started Sept. 1.
• The Edmonton Heritage Council welcomed Donna Coombs-Montrose as the Edmonton Historian Laureate for 2024-2026. Coombs-Montrose's background includes decades of activism, 10 years as the board president of CARIWEST, and more than 20 years as an Edmonton resident. The outgoing 2022-2024 Historians Laureate are Cheryl Whiskeyjack and Omar Yaqub.
• The Edmonton Public Library and Alberta Music welcomed Biboye Onanuga, an Edmonton-based drummer, composer, and educator, as the library's new Musician in Residence. Musicians of all levels can start booking appointments with Onanuga, who will also offer workshops out of the Stanley A. Milner Library. The outgoing Musician in Residence, Mallory Chipman, "touched the lives of hundreds of musicians, shaping their paths forward," the library said in a statement.
• New Edmonton Elks owner Larry Thompson says he has begun discussions with City of Edmonton officials about upgrading Commonwealth Stadium. The stadium, built in 1978 and upgraded multiple times since then, needs enhancements, Thompson told a town hall meeting. The comments come as the City released renderings showing potential improvements to the stadium, including upgraded concessions, washrooms, and increased natural light in the concourse areas. Meanwhile, the Elks have submitted a bid to host the 2026 Grey Cup, with a decision expected by the end of this year.
• The Edmonton Police Foundation, the Edmonton Police Service, and the Alberta Securities Commission are partnering on a challenge to spark "innovative solutions" to crypto investment fraud. More than 80 Edmontonians lost a combined $7 million due to crypto fraud in 2023, according to Edmonton police statistics. Submissions to the ScamShield: Investor Protection Challenge will be accepted until Nov. 4.
• Criminologist Temitope Oriola wrote an op-ed in response to the Edmonton Police Service reinstating the unnamed police officer who shot and killed Mathios Arkangelo. "To be clear, there is something fundamentally wrong with the EPS process if you can return to active duty two months after killing a civilian," wrote Oriola, arguing the Edmonton Police Commission continues to "abdicate its basic responsibility" for independent civilian oversight. Community leaders have called for the officer to be suspended while the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team investigates the shooting.
• The latest provincial data shows Edmonton still has the most opioid-related deaths in Alberta, with 222 deaths reported this year so far. Alberta-wide data shows opioid-related deaths have returned to pre-pandemic levels.
• Alberta recorded 732 COVID-19 deaths over the last season, measured from August 2023 to August 2024, which is 25% fewer than the previous season's 973 deaths. The number of people requiring hospitalization increased slightly. A new COVID-19 vaccine that better protects against current strains of the virus is expected to be available in the coming weeks, according to a Blue Cross memo sent to pharmacists in August.
• The province has reached a new five-year agreement with Legal Aid Alberta and the Law Society of Alberta, resolving a dispute over funding and independence that arose earlier this summer. Legal Aid Alberta, a non-profit organization providing legal services to vulnerable populations, will receive a grant of $110 million for 2024-25 under the new deal, which will take effect Sept. 6 and last until Sept. 5, 2029.
• Several Edmonton Oilers players were spotted doing some "on-ice reps" ahead of training camp. Getting prepared early shows "how hungry and determined the team is to take another step this season," suggested sports writer Michael Mazzei.

Here are open opportunities to engage with local governments in the Edmonton region.

• Strathcona/St. Anthony School Site Rezoning — The City of Edmonton is considering rezoning the site of a 118-year-old building in Old Strathcona that used to house St. Anthony School, the first Catholic school on Edmonton's south side. The developer wants to use the site for housing, recreation, and commercial activities. The application would allow a building up to eight stories and doesn't guarantee the preservation of the school — but the owner says they'll preserve it. Residents can ask a question or share their thoughts until Sept. 8.
• Submissions for Made in Leduc County cookbook — Leduc County is soliciting recipes for a second edition of its county cookbook, which aims to create "delectable contributions to this region's history." The first edition, created in 2023, is available online. Submissions will be accepted until Sept. 6.
• Transit Master Plan Update — Strathcona County has released a What We Heard report based on its first round of engagement for its updated transit master plan. Residents can now take a survey to provide feedback on the proposed changes, which closes Sept. 20.

More input opportunities

• Until Sept. 8: Midtown Park — Concept Design (City of St. Albert)
• Until Sept. 20: Traffic calming in Mission, North Ridge, Oakmont, and Riverside (City of St. Albert)
• Until Sept. 22: Applications to join municipal boards and committees (Town of Morinville)
• Until Sept. 27: Retail Gap & Complementary Sector Analysis Survey (Town of Morinville)
• Until Oct. 20: Naturalization Survey (City of Edmonton)

Photo: The former St. Anthony School building has a plaque outside but no historic designation. The city's discussion board has drawn mixed responses on what people hope to see on the site. (Edmonton Catholic School Division Archives/Facebook)

Here are some events happening today in the Edmonton area.

• How to Apply to Futurpreneur's Black Entrepreneur Startup Program starting at 10am online
• Life Sciences Fall 2024 Investment Summit — Company Info Session starting at 10am online
• TechBOOST Student and New Graduate Information Session starting at 10am online
• Pricing for Profit starting at 11am online
• TechBOOST Employer Information Session starting at 11am online
• Art Hive starting at 12pm at the Art Gallery of Alberta
• Preparing For Financing | Business Learning Series starting at 1pm online
• Have a Beer for Our 25th Year starting at 4pm at Diesel Tech industries
• Edmonton Region Export Meetup starting at 4pm at The Common
• River Valley Clean-up starting at 4pm at the Edmonton Valley Zoo
• Harvesting Your Own Seeds starting at 7pm online

And here are some upcoming events to keep in mind:

• Sept. 13: MacEwan University Griffins vs. University of Alberta Golden Bears Hockey at Clare Drake Arena
• Sept. 14: Kinsmen Beer, Wine & Spirits Festival at the Kinsmen Club of Edmonton
• Sept. 19: eHUB Spark Pitch Night at the University of Alberta (The Centennial Centre for Interdisciplinary Science)

Visit the beta version of the Taproot Edmonton Calendar for many more events in the Edmonton region.