Indigenous Wellness Centre opens at Toronto’s St. Michael’s Hospital

As a patient, Jessica Demeria knows first hand how challenging the medical system can be for First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples.

“We may be looked at in a certain way with our underlying Indigenous history informing the way that we are cared for,” Demeria said. “A trauma-informed approach is absolutely one-on-one necessary.”

While Demeria is a patient, she is also part of the team at Unity Health Toronto that is working to change that experience for Indigenous patients.

Thanks to an $11-million investment from The Krawcyzky Family Foundation, a transformed space at St. Michael’s Hospital in downtown Toronto is set to become a new Indigenous Wellness Centre.

Roberta Pike is the director of Indigenous Wellness, Reconciliation and Partnerships at Unity Health Toronto.

“This gift has expanded our ability to have more patient-facing supports on the ground in the inpatient units and in the emergency department,” Pike said.

A significant milestone for Indigenous health: 

Kevin Goldthorp, president and CEO of St. Michael’s and Providence Foundation, said to the hospital’s knowledge this donation represents the largest gift in Canada specifically earmarked for Indigenous wellness.

Goldthorp said it is a critical piece of the their ongoing commitment to reconciliation.

“We are a hospital that cares about the Indigenous communities,” Goldthorp said, “We’re here for you, we care about how you’re cared for, we care for your care outcomes.”

This week, construction crews have been working around the clock for the ceremonial opening of the Indigenous Wellness Centre, scheduled for Wednesday, June 18, at St. Michael’s Hospital.

With Indigenous art, a specialized HVAC system to allow ceremonial smudging, and more space for families, Pike hopes people feel at home when they walk into the newly-renovated space.

“A lot of people have intergenerational trauma associated with places or environments, and hospitals seem to be one of those leading examples of spaces that might be triggering for people,” Pike said.

This centre marks the first phase of the many projects this donation will support. There are also plans for another wellness centre at Providence Healthcare.

According to the foundation, that site will include a medicine garden, sweat lodge, and sacred fire. The donation will also support an additional staffing position, support education and community engagement, and help expand patient access to elders and traditional care providers.

A national perspective on providing care: 

Dr. Alika Lafontaine served as the president of the Canadian Medical Association in 2022. He was the first Indigenous physician and the youngest doctor to lead the organization.

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Lafontaine said he believes centres like this improve health outcomes for Indigenous patients.

“You really have a huge opportunity to either mitigate past harm that’s happened and create a more welcoming environment, or to prevent the possibility of people experiencing that new harm.”

“Having these spaces is actually a really, really big part of why people end up going to a location or choosing to stay” Lafontaine said.  “The health system hasn’t always been the best place for people who are First Nation, Inuit or Métis to receive care. Creating Indigenous-specific spaces, I think, is one of the ways that we create greater warmth and greater inclusion for folks who’ve had bad experiences in the past.”

Data from Statistics Canada shows between 2019 and 2022, about half of First Nations adults living off reserve reported having at least one chronic health condition compared with 40.6 per cent of non-Indigenous adults.

“The patients we see are coming to us, they’re very complex,” Pike said. “They have many layers of hurt, many layers (of) trauma, many layers (of)  joy in their lives. And so we’re trying to kind of work through all of those different aspects.”

Pike hopes the services offered at this new wellness centre will provide more options to meet the needs of the patients she sees and serve as an example for other hospitals.

“We see the people that we interact with in the hospital as an extension of our own families,” Pike said. “The ways in which we would want to treat our own family members is exactly the same way in which want to serve the people who are here.”

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