Osler's Values one year later

A year ago - in the midst of a global pandemic - we launched our new Values of Compassion, Excellence, Collaboration, Service, Innovation and Respect. I knew that the months ahead were going to be difficult and that the need for a strong set of Values – ones that rooted us to our purpose – had never, ever been greater.

I’ve reflected many times since then on how our Values helped guide us through what turned out to be the most challenging time of our lives and how, along with our Patient Declaration of Values, they continue to define not only what we do, but who we are as an organization.

If you’ve walked through the hallways of our hospitals, you’ve seen the impactful posters. These are all great – and necessary – visual reminders of our Values.

But for me, Osler’s Values are about so much more than words on a page. Osler’s team strive to live them, every day, in every interaction – with patients and their loved ones – and with each other.

Our Values are shaped by the deep-seated belief that everyone who comes through our doors, be it a patient, visitor, staff member or physician, deserves to be treated with respect, dignity and compassion.

As one of the hardest hit hospitals in the country, the last 18 months has challenged us beyond what we ever believed possible.

Yet through it all, Osler staff, physicians and volunteers never lost sight of our Values. They were there at the forefront of everything we did, helping us to achieve our Mission, innovative health care delivered with compassion, through the most tumultuous time of our lives.

Like the security guard who showed Compassion by going above and beyond to help a young mom in the Emergency Department get her baby home safely.

The physiotherapist who spoke about the overwhelming Respect she felt for the ICU team after being redeployed there to help care for COVID-19 patients.

And our dedicated volunteers who stepped up to the plate in new and different ways to offer their Service in whatever capacity they could to support their Osler colleagues, patients and families during the pandemic.

These are just some of many examples of our Values in action and a great reminder to us all of what we can accomplish when we are kind and help each other, embrace challenges and work across boundaries as one team.