Community Members Sought for Inaugural 'IDEA' Committee

Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare (MAHC) is committed to advancing equity and inclusion, addressing bias and discrimination, and celebrating diversity in order to achieve better health outcomes for patients and families, and a positive work environment for staff and other care providers.

“In June, the Board of Directors approved a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Policy that sets MAHC’s commitment and continued path forward by focusing on four main pillars,” says President & CEO Natalie Bubela. “These pillars include delivering an exemplary patient experience, embracing our community, empowering our people, and ensuring health equity.”

To help chart the organization’s path forward in an inclusive way and progress this important work, MAHC is excited to form an Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Anti-Racism (IDEA) Committee. The initial focus of this committee will be to develop an inclusion, diversity, equity and anti-racism action plan for MAHC that includes strategies to create a more inclusive and equitable place to work and receive care.

“Ensuring an environment free of barriers where all people feel free to be who they are is key to providing the health care that all members of our community deserve in a workplace where our teams are also supported,” adds Bubela. “The IDEA Committee will be comprised of patients and family members of patients from Muskoka and area, as well as MAHC staff and credentialed staff who have a personal commitment to inclusion, diversity, equity and anti-racism.”

MAHC is seeking four collaborative and patient-centred community members to join our inaugural IDEA Committee. Applicants must be a year-round or seasonal resident of the region, exemplify a commitment to the principles of diversity, equity, inclusion and anti-racism and seek to make them a reality in Muskoka, and possess lived experience of discrimination or identify as a member of a protected group as defined in the Ontario Human Rights Code.

Applications are welcome online at www.mahc.ca/IDEACommittee/ until September 3, 2021.