What is the name of your organization?
UrgentPriority
What is the name of your solution?
UrgentPriority
Provide a one-line summary or tagline for your solution.
Choose UrgentPriority, because delaying care is risking a life.
In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?
Trois-Rivières, QC, Canada
In what country is your solution team headquartered?
Canada
What type of organization is your solution team?
Hybrid of for-profit and nonprofit
Film your elevator pitch.
What specific problem are you solving?
Every minute counts, yet too many lives are lost while waiting for care that never comes. Adam, 39, died at the Lakeshore General Hospital in Montreal after waiting six hours in the emergency room.
A woman in Joliette died after 17 hours. In Ivory coast, 250 people die every day, often due to lack of timely access to care. In Quebec alone, 3,668 patients died on stretchers in emergency rooms over a six-month period.
These tragedies are not exceptions. They reveal a global systemic issue: inaction costs lives.
We chose to act. Our project, UrgentPriority, is designed to improve emergency response through intelligent prioritization, ensuring that waiting is never again a death sentence.
This challenge is deeply personal, because behind every statistic is a name, a family, a future lost.
What is your solution?
UrgentPriority is a digital platform with two user interfaces: one for patients (also available as a mobile app with a voice option for users with low literacy) and one for hospital staff. Its goal is to make emergency care faster, smarter, and more equitable.
Patients can view real-time average wait times at nearby hospitals based on data shared directly by each hospital and the number of people already registered. This helps users choose the most appropriate facility and avoid long, unnecessary waits. For those without digital access, interactive kiosks allow them to scan their health card and receive a hospital recommendation.
On the hospital side, a dashboard displays expected patients and their arrival status. When a patient mentions two or more symptoms in the app, the platform suggests a priority level based on a database. If those terms frequently appear in urgent cases, the patient is placed higher in the queue.
If the patient does not arrive within the expected time, their position moves down. The platform ensures data security and integrity while improving the management of hospital resources and accelerating care for critical emergencies.
Demo : https://vimeo.com/1075721214?share=copy
Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?
Our solution aims to directly improve the lives of all individuals who seek emergency care, including those who are often underserved such as people with listening disabilities, individuals who are blind, low-literacy users, or those without access to technology. These groups face long wait times, a lack of clear information, and systems that are difficult to navigate.
UrgentPriority was designed to be inclusive and accessible to all. The app includes a voice-based version for blind users or those who struggle with reading. Physical kiosks are available for patients without phones or computers, offering a simple interface where they can scan their health card and receive guidance.
The platform displays real-time wait times and helps each patient choose the most appropriate hospital. When a user mentions two or more symptoms, the platform checks its database and suggests a priority level if those symptoms often appear in urgent cases.
By making access to care clearer, faster, and more equitable, we want every patient regardless of their abilities or circumstances to receive timely, effective, and respectful care.
