A message from our President and CEO

Today marks the beginning of Pride Month — a time to celebrate the talent and contributions of the 2S/LGBTQ+ communities. It’s also an opportunity to recognize the discrimination against 2S/LGBTQ+ people and recommit ourselves to actions to improve the experiences of 2S/LGBTQ+ patients, families, staff, physicians, learners and volunteers. 

Unity Health’s Pride Month theme this year is ‘Care with Pride,’ which reflects what our commitment looks like in practice—treating every person with dignity, compassion, and respect for who they are, while delivering inclusive, high-quality care that meets diverse needs. It is through this lens that we continue to shape our culture, our care, and the environments we create for those we serve.

Since joining Unity Health last year, I’ve been struck by the organization’s commitment to transforming care experiences and improving health outcomes for people in the 2S/LGBTQ+ community. Our teams are fostering an inclusive, welcoming and safe environment for the patients, residents and families we serve and the staff, physicians and learners who work here. While we have made progress at Unity Health, we know there is still more work to do. 

During this month, we reflect with honesty, not only on what we’ve achieved, but on where we need to do better. We are also re-examining the physical and digital systems and structures we rely on and acknowledging that 2S/LGBTQ+ communities may still experience discrimination in health care — from treatment delays to systemic barriers that could limit access to care, contributing to ongoing inequities. We recognize the role we have in driving meaningful change. This work is guided by 2S/LGBTQ+ people. Listening to their experiences and learning from them must guide what we do next. 

As a Catholic health care organization, we recognize that delivering inclusive care requires more than awareness — it calls for ongoing, intentional action. Over the past year, Unity Health has taken important steps to further strengthen our systems, practices and environments as we continue to build on our commitment to 2S/LGBTQ+ equity, inclusion and compassionate care for all.

What we accomplished in 2025-26:

  • Launched an internal education and resource hub to support staff and physicians in understanding equity in care for the 2S/LGBTQ+ community, including guidance on inclusive communication and the collection of sexual orientation and gender identity data. 
  • Completed the first phase of implementing non-gendered signage across all sites to enhance accessibility and foster a more inclusive environment for patients, visitors, staff, physicians, learners and volunteers. This involved replacing gendered icons with clear, functional (non-gendered) icons on washrooms. 
  • Advanced early efforts to evaluate the collection of sexual orientation and gender identity data in our electronic patient record system, with nearly 55,000 patients providing data in these new fields. 
  • Increased our 2S/LGBTQ+ equity focused quality improvement initiatives to deliver more inclusive, equitable and gender affirming care. This includes improving how gender identity and pronouns are captured and used across the surgical journey, asking patients to share their pronouns at the start of their surgical journey, increasing visibility of pronouns in our Epic electronic patient record system, and providing education to support respectful, gender-responsive care. We’ve also made targeted efforts to connect more 2S/LGBTQ+ patients to primary care. 

Where we came up short: 

In 2025, we set a goal to expand our efforts to hire and retain trans and non-binary staff and physicians. We saw a modest increase of staff identifying as trans or non-binary, but this was not a significant change. 

Concrete actions we will take in 2026-27:

  • Continue to analyze data from the sexual orientation and gender identity fields in our EPR system to assess data quality and its impact on care experiences for members of the 2S/LGBTQ+ community. Building on this analysis, identify and implement targeted actions to improve data quality and, ultimately, care experiences and outcomes for 2S/LGBTQ+ patients. 
  • Strengthen our 2S/LGBTQ+ affinity group at Unity Health by creating more opportunities for meaningful in-person connection and engagement that can build community, deepen relationships, and foster a stronger sense of belonging.  
  • Explore including pronouns on Unity Health ID badges to foster a more inclusive and respectful workplace by normalizing gender diversity and reducing assumptions about colleagues’ identities. This can also support safer, more affirming interactions for trans and non-binary staff, strengthening belonging, trust, and overall workplace culture.
  • Complete the second phase of work to implement non-gendered signage across all sites and identify opportunities to incorporate non-gendered facilities when designing and building new spaces as part of a more inclusive, accessible, and equity informed planning approach. 

To celebrate Pride, Unity Health will once again host a Street Fair booth on parade weekend and raise the Progress Pride flags outside the main entrances of our hospital sites. We will also be hosting staff events to celebrate and demonstrate our commitment to 2S/LGBTQ+ colleagues, patients, residents, families, and visitors. 

Pride is both a celebration, a call to action, and a reminder that progress takes continuous effort. It’s about how we show up for each other with intention, accountability, and care for one another every step of the way.

Wishing everyone in our Unity Health community a very happy Pride Month. 

Sincerely,

Altaf Stationwala
President and CEO
Unity Health Toronto