March 11, 2021

Each week, we’re sharing a list of 10 great things that happened at our sites. Do you have a story you’d like to share? Send it to communications@unityhealth.to.

1) Our COVID-19 Vaccination Clinics are now offering appointments for seniors 80 and older

Unity Health Toronto collaborated with other hospitals and Ontario Health Teams to support eligible adults in Toronto to pre-register or book their vaccination appointments. People who are 80 years of age and older are now able to book appointments at our COVID-19 Vaccination Clinics at St. Joseph’s Health Centre and St. Michael’s Hospital. Learn more about The Toronto COVID-19 Vaccine Call Centre and Website.

2) Unity Health now offers full paid leave for employees who become living organ donors

Employees of Unity Health Toronto are now eligible for full paid leave for up to 13 weeks after our network adopted a policy to address this significant financial barrier to live organ donation. The policy, announced on World Kidney Day, makes Unity Health one of the only employers in Canada to offer full paid leave for this life-transforming decision, at a time when living donation across the country is on the decline.

3) Eight St. Michael’s-led research projects receive CIHR project grants

Eight projects led by St. Michael’s Hospital researchers have received funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Fall Project Grant Competition. CIHR project grants support researchers pursuing projects with the greatest potential to advance health-related fundamental or applied knowledge, health research, health care, health systems or health outcomes.

4) Unity Health Toronto celebrates International Women’s Day

In honour of International Women’s Day, we spotlight some of our inspiring women researchers at Unity Health. Dr. Usha Ramanathan, a Neurologist and Researcher at Providence Healthcare, and Dr. Justine Cohen-Silver, a Pediatrician and Researcher at St. Joseph’s Health Centre, share why they are proud to be women working in health care and research today, and what advice they would give to young women hoping to do the same. St. Michael’s Hospital’s Dr. Seema Marwaha and Dr. Tara Kiran were also on Metro Morning for International Women’s Day to discuss how they juggle family while working on the frontlines of the pandemic.

5) Two St. Michael’s Family Health Teams move into their new space on 95 Homewood Avenue

The formerly separate St. James Town Health Centre and Health Centre at 410 are now one integrated clinic on 95 Homewood Avenue named the Wellesley – St. James Town Health Centre. This new space is a much larger 24,000-square-foot clinic that was thoughtfully designed to provide more patient-centered care for the clinic’s newly combined 14,000 patients. The clinic adopted the hub and spoke model which provides the interprofessional care team a large and shared work space to discuss patients’ care plans and frees up clinical exam rooms for patient care. Further, the new location is much more accessible to patients with disabilities. Check out photos of the new space here.

6) Our Dr. Ali Abbass highlights how St. Joseph’s has found new ways to reduce medical waste on CBC The National

Since December 2018, St. Joseph’s Health Centre has been reusing disposable items such as fingertip oxygen sensors and single-use surgical tools, says our Dr. Ali Abbass, Anesthesiologist and Chief of Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability at St. Joseph’s. He spoke with CBC the National on how the hospital works with companies to clean, sterilize, test and repackage certain tools and find ways to recycle items that cannot be reused. Read more.

7) Unity Health experts answer common questions on COVID-19 vaccinations

We know there are lots of questions about the COVID-19 vaccines. Here in this video, emergency physician Dr. Alun Ackery answers common questions so people can make the best decision for themselves and their families. Clinical Pharmacy Practitioner Brenda Chang was on BT Toronto to breakdown the four different vaccines in Canada, what ‘vaccine efficacy’ means and the side effects to expect when getting the vaccines. Our Dr. Matthew Muller, Medical Director of Infection Prevention and Control at St. Michael’s Hospital, spoke with CTV News on whether vaccines are safe for those who have allergies or pre-existing medical conditions with CTV News.

8) A mental health expert and a wellness expert discuss burnout and what we can do to combat it

As the pandemic stretches on, many of us have felt the sensation of burnout. But what is burnout, exactly? And is there anything we can do about it? We interviewed two people with different areas of knowledge on this topic: Dr. Thomas Ungar, Psychiatrist-In-Chief at St. Michael’s Hospital and Chantal Sinclair, a Wellness Coordinator with our Corporate Health team at Unity Health.

9) Our Linda Jackson speaks to The Globe and Mail about strategies to better reach people experiencing homelessness in vaccine efforts

To vaccinate as many people as quickly as possible, vaccination teams are implementing mobile clinics and using incentives, such as cash or gift cards, to reach the vulnerable homeless population. “We need to actually have approaches that actually go to where people are, rather than waiting for them to come to us,” said Linda Jackson, Senior Clinical Director of Community and Primary Care at Unity Health Toronto. She shares her thoughts with The Globe and Mail.

10) Unity Health receives transformative gift from the Slaight Family Foundation

Our network received an incredible gift from the Slaight Family Foundation to support the mental health of our patients, communities and staff. A $1M donation will go to St. Joseph’s Health Centre’s Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation program, and the hospital’s Staff Wellness Program. Another $1M donation goes to the Mental Health Navigators, Community Health-care Staff and Staff Mental Health Wellness Program at St. Michael’s. Thank you to the Slaight Family for this transformative gift.