Engage: Fostering an Inclusive Environment at BCHS

For Patients

After consultations with members of the Muslim Community of Brantford, we are pleased to announce that Halal Menu options were implemented, effective March 6, 2024, as part of our ongoing commitment to providing patient-centered care and addressing the diverse dietary needs of our community.

The Halal menu adheres to Islamic dietary laws, ensuring food is prepared according to specific guidelines, free from prohibited ingredients like pork or alcohol, and certified by authorized bodies. To ensure a smooth implementation, staff training sessions were held on February 21, 2024, led by Compass Catering.

The Cafeteria

We are pleased to announce that we will be offering pre-packaged Halal wraps and sandwiches in the Brantford General Hospital (BGH) Cafeteria located on D-Wing, Level Main.

This is part of a test pilot as we begin expanding our diverse food selections to better meet the dietary needs of our staff, patients, and the broader community. We are excited to continue enhancing our offerings and fostering an inclusive environment for all who access the cafeteria.

In celebration of Pride Month, with support from the 2SLGBTQI+ Employee Resource Group (ERG), we introduced an initiative to promote pronoun identification and inclusivity.

Why Identify Pronouns?
Respecting pronouns (she/her, he/him, they/them, etc.) affirms personal identities and fosters safe spaces for authentic self-expression. Sharing pronouns encourages others to do the same.

Pronoun Buttons:
To support this initiative, we distributed pronoun buttons starting June 24, 2024, encouraging staff to wear them on badges or lanyards. This simple gesture opened the door to important conversations. After June 27, 2024, the buttons were made available at Switchboard, ensuring continued engagement with the initiative.

Email Signature:
We also introduced the option for staff to include pronouns in their email signatures. While participation was encouraged, it remained voluntary, recognizing that everyone’s comfort level with sharing pronouns may vary.

This initiative, with ERG support, was an important step in promoting inclusivity and celebrating Pride Month.

Spiritual Care is an essential aspect of holistic healthcare, addressing the emotional, psychological, and spiritual needs of patients, families, and staff. We are pleased to announce an enhanced Spiritual Care program, effective January 14, 2025. Spiritual Care services will now be available daily on-call from 10:00 AM to 10:00 PM, supporting the diverse spiritual and emotional needs of our community in the hospital setting.

The Multifaith Center will remain open 24/7 for both scheduled and unscheduled use, offering a space for meditation, prayer, and reflection. We also welcome our new practitioners and look forward to further evolving this program to better support the spiritual well-being of all.

For more information, please reach out to Matthew Mutamiri, Clinical Manager, Inpatient Mental Health & Spiritual Care: matthew.mutamiri@bchsys.org

For more information on our Spiritual Care Programming, click here.

In support of improving care with better communication, BCHS recently launched a new translations vendor, Voyce, to provide a service that brings live interpreters into our facilities within seconds.

Voyce is a translation service that employs professional medically trained language interpreters to connect patients/families and care teams to communicate effectively. With the capacity to support more than 240 languages, Voyce’s medical interpreters also provide support in Arabic, Spanish, Ukrainian, Cantonese and Vietnamese, some of the most requested languages at BCHS.

Additionally, languages for interpretation through Voyce include American Sign Language (ASL) and Indigenous languages such as Cree and Ojibway.

Voyce Translation Services is free of charge and is available in both inpatient and outpatient departments/units. Please ask a member of your care team if you would like to access this service.

For more information on Accessibility, click here.

Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), also known as Affinity Groups, are voluntary, employee-led networks designed to unite individuals with shared identities and experiences. These groups foster inclusivity, promote professional development, and create a sense of community within our organization. ERGs advocate for inclusion by offering feedback to leadership, organizing cultural celebrations and awareness campaigns, and providing mentorship and networking opportunities. By supporting equity-deserving groups, ERGs enhance employee engagement, help attract and retain diverse talent, and ensure all voices are heard.

We are currently piloting the 2SLGBTQIA+ and Black Employee Resource Groups to establish a framework for future groups, ensuring adequate resources and staff support. Initiatives like pronoun buttons, introduced through the 2SLGBTQIA+ Group, highlight the tangible impact these groups have on our organization’s culture.

2SLGBTQIA+ Employee Resource Group (ERG):

Leader: William Thomas-Boaz

Will grew up in Paris, Ontario and completed his Bachelor of Nursing degree at McMaster University in 2005, before moving to California to start his nursing career. He has spent the majority of his nursing career in the Emergency Department (ED) setting, working at a community hospital in northern California until 2008 when he returned to Canada and started working in the ED at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto. In both departments, he was a mentor to new staff and students, a triage nurse, and a charge nurse. He eventually moved into progressive leadership positions at Sunnybrook acting as the Clinical Educator for the ED and Advanced Practice Nurse for the ED and Trauma program, as well as a Clinical Manager for the Orthopedic and Neurosurgery Unit. Will has a Master of Nursing (MN) degree with a teaching focus from Athabasca University and has a keen interest in emergency and critical care services, quality improvement, professional practice, and staff education. Will moved back to Brant in 2022 and joined BCHS as a Senior Manager, Clinical Operations before joining the ED team as the Quality Manager. He is now the Clinical Manager of the Critical Care Unit and Respiratory Therapy.

Black Employee Resource Group (ERG):

Leader: ​Lebené Numekevor

Lebené is a results-driven health care leader with over a decade of experience managing large-scale change initiatives across public, hospital, and private sectors. Since joining BCHS in 2021 as Director of Medical Affairs, she has focused on recruiting, retaining, and engaging physicians and staff. A Certified Health Executive (CHE) with a Master of Health Administration from Dalhousie University, Lebené, the first recipient of BCHS's DEI-B award for her work on inclusion, advocates for innovation, excellence, mentorship, and diversity in health care leadership.

For more information or to join one of these networks please connect with us: deib@bchsys.org

BCHS is committed to building a stronger, more inclusive community. On December 3, 2024, we hosted a DEI-B workshop led by Dr. Ruby Latif, in alignment with Ontario Health’s Equity, Inclusion, Diversity and Anti-Racism Framework. The workshop brought together members of the BBNOHT, with 11 out of 19 local healthcare organizations participating. We explored topics such as identity, privilege, and inclusive language, and introduced a Maturity Grid to help organizations develop actionable DEI-B plans. Our goal is to support other healthcare organizations in their DEI-B journey, ensuring we create a shared patient experience that fosters inclusivity and compassion.

We’re proud to collaborate with our partners to advance inclusion and improve health outcomes for our diverse community.