Accessibility and Health Justice

What is health justice?

Health justice goes beyond the concept of health equality and equity by focusing on the structural and systemic changes required to address the root causes of health disparities. It emphasizes equitable access to healthcare and the dismantling of systems that perpetuate oppression and marginalization.

At Osler, we believe everyone deserves human dignity and respect. Every day, we embrace everyone's differences and strive to be an inclusive, accessible and welcoming place for all.

The Health Justice team partners with clinical teams and services to:

respect your unique preferences, practices and beliefs for your care.
help you make more informed choices about your health and care planning
link you with resources in the community that will support your care and recovery during and after your stay
communicate with you in your preferred language and provide health information in your language
build opportunities for patient and family education to support self-management and confidence
support cultural competence and safety practices

create and sustain hospital and community partnerships to improve access and support for high needs patient populations and find new ways to address social determinants of health as key factors in improving health and wellbeing.
grow our understanding of local community needs by learning from and partnering with our global communities.

Accessibility

We are committed to providing an accessible environment for everyone. We:

respect the dignity and independence of all people.
identify, prevent and remove barriers to providing and accessing care and services
meet standards in the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) and explore further improvement opportunities
gather feedback from staff, physicians, patients, caregivers and the community to inform our improvement opportunities

We put all people at the centre of decision making and address barriers proactively. These may include barriers that are:

physical, structural or architectural
systemic (policies, practices and procedures, cultural norms)
technological
communication-related
attitudinal

Our work to improve accessibility and comply with AODA Standards is outlined in our comprehensive multi-year accessibility plan.

Accessibility sub-committee

Our accessibility sub-committee is co-chaired by the Director, People-Centred Care and Health Justice. Membership is diverse and includes community and staff members actively involved in accessibility improvements informed by expertise and lived experiences.

Health justice

We believe people-centred care is informed by the perspectives of our patients, families and community. We:

know that health is impacted by social determinants such as housing, income, sexual orientation and gender identity, disability, language, religion, immigrant status, newcomer status, gender and age
provide supports and resources to address these factors during a patient's stay and after their discharge
embed patients' preferences and practices into their care planning

build patient and family feedback into our program evaluations
consider patients first in our organizational decision-making

Anti-discrimination

We are strongly committed to equity, diversity, inclusion and anti-discrimination. To this end, we are always working towards challenging discrimination, including racism, in all its forms.

One of Canada's Best Diversity Employers

For nine consecutive years, we have been honoured as one of Canada's Best Diversity Employers.

The honour includes being recognized for creating an inclusive work environment for our staff, physicians and volunteers and for striving to meet the unique and diverse needs of patients, families/caregivers and our community.

We provide staff with learning opportunities, tools and resources so they can reflect, gain self-awareness around the diversity of others and best meet each patient or family/caregiver's unique needs.

Health literacy

We help our patients and community access and understand the health information they need to develop self-management skills especially with chronic illnesses and to support their health, and decision-making. We offer multimedia health education materials in many languages as a commitment to patient empowerment through our integrated bedside terminals. Regularly offered in-person or virtual public and education sessions centred around relevant local community needs.

Resources to support people-centred care

Interpretation and translation services

At registration, we will ask you which language you prefer, so that we can best serve you. Interpretation services are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Please inform our staff if you or your loved one:

prefers a language other than English
has a vision or hearing difficulty, or
uses a Sign Language Interpreter.

We use professional translation services to offer patient-facing materials in our local community languages.

French language services

Under Ontario's French Language Services Act (1986), you have the right to communicate and receive services in French. We are an identified French language services organization. Please contact us at healthjustice@williamoslerhs.ca should you require any French language supports.

Religious and spiritual care

Our Spiritual Health Therapy team helps patients, families and Osler staff with their spiritual and emotional needs through confidential one-on-one counselling and wellness supports. We ask about religion at registration because we want to understand religious and faith requirements and preferences.

A 24-hour multi-faith worship room is also open to patients and families at each of our sites:

Brampton Civic Hospital
Second level, next to the Leaf elevators

Etobicoke General Hospital
Main level, near the east elevator behind the large waiting room

Peel Memorial Centre for Integrated Health and Wellness
Second level, next to the elevators

Patient food services

Please inform us if you have special dietary needs due to culture, religion or allergy. Our Food Services team will work to provide appropriate options for your needs (e.g. vegan, vegetarian, halal and kosher diets). Varied menu options include popular Thai, South Asian, Italian, North American and Chinese selections. Annually recognized holidays are observed through our meal trays.

We want to hear from you!

Please speak to our staff if you have any questions or concerns about your care or how it is provided. We collaborate with you to understand and honour your preferences, as best we can.

Contact our Health Justice team if you have any questions, comments or suggestions about diversity, health equity and accessibility at Osler. Email us at healthjustice@williamoslerhs.ca.