I'll start this week by apologizing to
Rod Davey who became "Rob" in my announcement last week. Also, in my Monday message I didn't mention the fact that it was a joint submission to the WSIB from Altum Health and Toronto Rehab and I'm sorry for the error and the omission. I'm glad that people feel that they can point errors out and hope that this same approach happens when we see errors or omissions in our care. It is important to speak up and equally important to acknowledge errors and do what one can to prevent them. That includes double and triple checking my messages before pressing Send.
On that note, you all know I'm a huge advocate for safety – but I was given the opportunity to pause and reflect on all of UHN's values at one of our annual Black History Month (BHM) Celebration events last Wednesday. As an organization, we make
People & Culture one of our top priorities because we know it's important to create an environment that supports diversity and inclusion. With thousands upon thousands of staff, I can't guarantee we're earning top marks in every corner of UHN yet. But it is so important we consistently drive toward that goal every day and hold each other accountable. Thank you to
Dr. Onye Nnorom for speaking to issues of race and how they impact healthcare at the event. And a big thank you to
Emma Pavlov and everyone involved with planning this celebration, including BHM committee co-chairs
Dianne Barham and
Tracey Williams. They are running a great series of events this year, I encourage you all to attend at least one. You can see dates and times for the remaining ones
here.
Brad Wouters and his team held our second Research Town Hall at the DeGasperis Conservatory. Once again, the turnout was great and I am heartened to see so many people interested and invested in the future of research at UHN. The last Research Town Hall of this series will be at Michener.
Find out the time and date here.
Finally, we held our third New Physician Orientation session last week and welcomed 18 newly appointed MDs. As part of our work in People & Culture, this orientation program was created to further expand our physicians’ abilities to build, lead and support teams at UHN. Thank you to our Human Resources team for facilitating all of this. It was a wonderful way to spend an evening and I already look forward to attending the next session in the fall.
Charlie
