Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI)

Together for a More Equitable Future

At Providence, we recognise that we live in a society that continues to have systemic barriers, biases and inequities that marginalize and disenfranchise many individuals and communities. This is why, with the endorsement of the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) and in partnership with the Medical Staff Association (MSA) and the Indigenous Wellness and Reconciliation (IWR) Team, the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Team (EDI) Lead role was initiated in fall 2020 to develop a Providence EDI strategy with focussed actions.

The goal of the EDI strategy is to support Providence on its path towards addressing the systemic inequities that continue to pervade our society today as well as our organization, and support our staff and medical staff on their individual journeys toward equity, diversity and inclusion.

Each section on these pages are designed to orient you with the EDI Working Plan, as well as provide useful resources on antiracism action and inclusion efforts.

Our four aspirations

EDI at Providence is guided by four aspirations. From the people we hire to our efforts in the community, it’s critical to ensure our work is undertaken in a way that is inclusive of all involved.

PHC will have a reputation as an Organization of Choice because it champions anti-racism, equity, diversity and inclusion.
Diverse staff will be visibly leading at every level.
Patients and families will receive care that respects their dignity and responds to their cultural, linguistic and socio-demographic needs to ensure high quality outcomes every time.
PHC staff and medical staff will demonstrate ongoing learning and growth in anti-racism, equity, diversity and inclusion.

It's our responsibility now as people who have privilege and have the ability to change things to start rebuilding this new post-pandemic world… one of the things we can do is address those structures of inequity, power, racism + colonialism

Fiona Dalton, CEO, Providence Health Care

The goal of treating everyone the same way ignores the fact that people can differ in their abilities, resources and experiences. Those differences – if we ignore them - tend to become barriers and we end up promoting privilege. When we treat people equitably, we acknowledge and respond to differences so they don’t become barriers.
Diversity refers to groups of people that are identified by inherent characteristic such as race/ethnicity, ability, sexual orientation, and gender identity. These groups are identified in Canada’s and BC’s human rights codes. Another way of thinking about diversity is 3D Diversity – the diversity of each of us, based on our inherent diversity, our experiential diversity and our thought diversity.
Inclusion refers to the experience of diverse staff in the workplace. Is everyone always treated respectfully when they come to work? Can diverse staff feel confident that their workday will be free from racist or discriminatory comments and behaviours? Do diverse staff feel they can speak up, share the full range of their experience, knowledge and thoughts?

Questions?

Do you have a question about equity, diversity & inclusion at Providence Health Care? Contact the EDI team at edi@providencehealth.bc.ca

Together for a More Equitable Future

Our four asp​irations

Fiona Dalton, CEO, Providence Health Care

Definitions

Questions?

Our four aspirations