Healthcare navigation · Calgary

Someone who knows the system, on your side.

Cairn Health helps patients and families find their way through surgery recovery, chronic pain, and complex care — with a clear written plan and someone to walk it with you. In your home, across Calgary.

Founded by Evan Ward — 10 years inside Alberta primary care

A cairn is a stack of stones left on the trail by someone who has walked it before — so the people coming behind don't get lost.

cairn · /kern/ · that's the job.

Who we help

The system is hard to navigate exactly when you have the least energy for it.

Surgery ahead — or behind you

Recovering from surgery

A hip replacement is three weeks away and no one has explained what happens after the hospital. We map what home care you're entitled to, what rehab looks like, and who can come to the house — before you need it.

Chronic pain & MSK

Living with pain

Scattered appointments, long wait-lists, and no one holding the whole picture. We help you build a coordinated team around your goals — public and private — and keep it moving.

Serious illness & complex care

Facing something bigger

When a family is navigating serious or palliative illness, the logistics multiply just as capacity runs out. We carry the coordination so you can spend your energy where it matters.

How it works

One assessment. One plan. Help for as long as you want it — and no longer.

No memberships. No subscriptions. You pay for what you use.

The assessment

About three hours, usually at your kitchen table. We go through the full picture: your situation as you and your physicians understand it, your home, your coverage, and what a good outcome looks like to you.

$495 flat — you know the cost before we start

Your Cairn Plan

Two pages. The first maps everything the public system already offers you — no charge for that knowledge, no strings attached. The second recommends vetted private providers who come to you, matched to your situation.

Included with your assessment

Coordination, if you want it

Booking, referrals, wait-lists, paperwork, benefits, appointment accompaniment. Some families take the plan and run with it themselves — that's a win. Others want us alongside for the whole road.

$135/hr — blocks bring it lower
The two-page plan

We tell you what's free before we recommend anything.

Page one · No charge, no strings

What's already yours

  • AHS home care you qualify for, and how to access it
  • Public rehab pathways and realistic timelines
  • Palliative home care and community supports
  • Benefits, coverage, and programs you may not know you have

Alberta's public system does more than most people realize. If the public route serves you well, that's a good plan — and we'll say so.

Page two · Our recommendations

Who we'd trust

  • Vetted providers matched to your situation — physio, chiropractic, kinesiology, allied health
  • Confirmed in-home capability, service area, and response time
  • Direct billing details, so there are no surprises
  • A sequence: what to start, when, and why

Every name on this page has passed our four-gate vetting standard.

Your plan is yours to keep, share with family, and bring to your physician — whether or not you ever hire us again.

Our standard

Four gates. Every provider. No exceptions.

A recommendation is only worth the vetting behind it.

Gate 01

Credentials verified

License in good standing, professional liability insurance, and a clean discipline history — confirmed before any conversation about joining the network.

Gate 02

Personally evaluated

Evan assesses every provider's clinical approach himself, drawing on ten years inside Alberta's primary care system.

Gate 03

In-home confirmed

Service area, response times, and direct billing verified — because a great provider who can't come to you isn't a recommendation.

Gate 04

Continuously reviewed

We ask every client how it went. Providers who slip on quality or reliability leave the network.

Pricing

Clear numbers, up front.

You're likely reading this at a stressful moment. The last thing you need is "contact us for pricing."

Comprehensive assessment + your Cairn PlanAbout three hours, in your home. The complete picture, both pages.
$495 flat
Coordination & navigationBooking, referrals, wait-lists, paperwork, accompaniment — as needed.
$135 /hour
5-hour coordination blockFor a defined stretch — a surgery window, a care transition.
$600 ($120/hr)
10-hour coordination blockFor complex and palliative files that need a steady hand over time.
$1,100 ($110/hr)

Prices in Canadian dollars; GST applies. No memberships, no subscriptions, no minimums beyond the assessment.
Returning clients whose situation has changed: updated assessment $295.

Photo of Evan
(placeholder)
About

Founded by someone who spent ten years inside the system.

Evan Ward is a kinesiologist who spent a decade at Mosaic Primary Care Network in Calgary, working with people living with chronic pain and complex conditions — and watching capable families get lost in a system nobody handed them a map for.

"I don't provide treatment, and I don't give medical advice. Clinical decisions belong with your physicians and the licensed providers who deliver your care. What I provide is the map, the plan, and someone who stays on it with you."

Cairn Health is independent — of every clinic, every provider, and every recommendation we make.

Questions

The things people ask first.

Do you replace my doctor?
No — and we never will. Your physicians remain at the centre of your care, and every clinical decision stays with them. We help you get to the right ones faster, arrive prepared, and follow through on what they recommend.
Is this private healthcare?
We're an independent navigation service, not a clinic. The first half of every plan we write maps what Alberta's public system already offers you — at no charge for that knowledge. Where private providers genuinely add something, we recommend vetted ones. Often the best plan is a mix of both.
Do you provide any medical care yourselves?
No. Cairn Health provides navigation and coordination only. All clinical care is delivered by licensed providers under their own licenses, insurance, and professional colleges. If you have questions about your health, talk to your physician.
Where do you work?
Calgary and the surrounding metro area, in your home. Assessments happen where you live — because that's where recovery happens too.
Do you charge for travel?
Not within Calgary — in-home visits across the Calgary metro area include travel at no charge. For appointment accompaniment and for visits beyond the metro area (Airdrie, Okotoks, Cochrane and similar), time is billed portal-to-portal at the coordination rate, and we'll tell you the estimate before we book anything.

Start with a conversation.

Tell us what you're facing. We'll tell you honestly whether an assessment would help — and if the public system alone can serve you well, we'll say that too.

Please don't include detailed medical information here — we'll cover that together, privately, if we work together.

Prefer email? hello@cairnhealth.ca  ·  Calgary, Alberta