North York General Hospital (NYGH) serves a highly diverse population, including over 50 per cent who are immigrants and over 50 per cent who identify as part of a visible minority.
High quality care means meeting each individual’s unique needs in an environment where everyone feels valued and respected. NYGH made a commitment to bring an equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) lens to everything and to bake EDI into all aspects of care and operations. Part of our Strategic Plan, NYGH’s EDI Framework guides our actions to achieve lasting change.
Health Equity, a key pillar of the Framework, must be grounded both in data and the lived experiences of people who face barriers. In 2024, NYGH launched the Health Equity Measurement Survey as part of an Ontario Health Toronto initiative. The confidential and voluntary Everyone Counts survey asks patients about their backgrounds and identities. It is being implemented in all hospital departments and in outpatient programs across our campus. This vital information will help us ensure high quality services are accessible to everyone.
In addition to gathering crucial demographic data, NYGH is committed to continuously learning from patients and frontline teams about health care gaps and solutions.
NYGH’s teams recognize that the Emergency Department (ED) can be a very difficult place for people experiencing a mental health crisis and that some patients would have better outcomes in a calming and private environment.
“Our goal is for everyone in our community to have access to the best standard of mental health and addictions care at every life stage,” says Dr. Everton Gooden, President and CEO of NYGH. “With the advice of our patients, caregivers and frontline teams, and generous support from 6000 donors, we have created a dedicated space in our Charlotte & Lewis Steinberg Emergency department for people experiencing a mental health emergency.”
The Mental Health Emergency Services Unit within our ED opened in March 2024. Individual treatment rooms, with showers and carefully selected furniture and colours, promote safety, comfort and healing. Patients receive medical and mental health care at the same time from one team of professionals specializing in mental health and emergency medicine.
A similar approach was taken to address care gaps for Sickle Cell Disease (SCD), a debilitating blood disorder that mostly affects racialized people, particularly those who identify as Black. Those living with the disease face racism and other barriers.
A group of NYGH nurses, physicians and other professionals formed a Sickle Cell Working Group to help the hospital to improve SCD care. While there is much more to be done to eliminate the discrimination faced by SCD patients, NYGH is making promising strides, guided by the Working Group. NYGH has made a commitment to improving quality of care by reducing the time it takes to receive appropriate treatment in the ED. This commitment is part of NYGH’s corporate priorities, the President and CEO’s goals, and the organization’s Quality Improvement Plan submitted to Ministry of Health. NYGH also co-leads Evidence2Practice (E2P), a provincial initiative that uses health information systems to help hospitals implement quality standards for prevalent diseases. SCD will soon be one of the diseases supported by E2P. NYGH’s experience with Health Equity so far demonstrates that listening and truly partnering with those who know patients the best is the key to enduring change.
Visit nygh.on.ca to learn more.
