Northwell Health has awarded $1.3 million to four innovation projects spearheaded by the New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based health system's employees.
The funding is part of Northwell's 2021 Innovation Challenge; the competition, now in its fifth year, allows employees to submit ideas and projects that will transform the industry.
"Innovation and creativity are the essence of good organizations who strive to excel and move forward,” Northwell Health President and CEO Michael Dowling said in a May 5 news release. "We have a lot of innovation in the health system and these submissions are representative of what we've seen over the years at Northwell Health."
The 2021 Innovation Challenge received 74 submissions, which were narrowed down to two finalists and two runners-up. The winning project in the "care delivery" category is developing a 3D device to support early detection of various ulcers; the winning project in the "science" category is in collaboration with General Electric and will focus on building a high intensity ultrasound simulation of the spleen to treat bleeding disorders.
The winners each received $500,000 awards to take their concepts to market, and the runners-up got $150,000 each to support their projects.