Solomé’s Journey

As you walk through SHN’s hallways, you will see the wide range of cultural and racial backgrounds that our healthcare team members come from, just like you would see throughout Scarborough.

We appreciate how important it is for staff to be able to incorporate their real identities as part of how they do their jobs in the workplace. There is a wealth of ideas that come from diverse communities and we want to be able to tap into that so that SHN can truly strive towards healthcare excellence in all facets.

This was something I witnessed during my very first interview at SHN. The panel featured such a diverse group of people in positions of leadership, which I took as a sign that SHN does take the values of equity, diversity and inclusion seriously.

And while in some places, there could be just lip service with no concerted effort given to addressing inequities that impact folks who are racialized and marginalized – my role and that of my team is a testament to the work SHN is doing to encourage authenticity, celebration, and real support. Everyone at SHN, from leadership to frontline staff, is provided with the same education and awareness of health equity. And this work extends beyond our walls, through our Health Equity Certificate Program that is also open to partners, peers and community service providers. Our goal is that we maintain culturally safe practices for our people so that we authentically reflect the communities we serve.

It’s a big challenge, but we are open to the experience of learning new things, and sitting in the discomfort of unlearning harmful biases in order to make our care safer and more accessible. As a career highlight, it’s been a joy to work alongside SHN’s Health Equity and Health Systems Integration team. We’ve passed a five-year Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion strategy for SHN that is ambitious and makes me hopeful for the possibilities when we bring together not just a diversity of people but a diversity of ideas to the table.