September 30 is National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. At St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton (St. Joe’s), we understand the importance of pausing on this day to commemorate, honour and reflect on the deeply painful legacy of residential schools and the ongoing trauma and harm it continues to cause.

We recognize that the path toward truth and reconciliation is long. St. Joe’s is an organization that is committed to doing the work that is necessary to honour those affected by residential schools and colonialism and build trust with First Nations, Métis and Inuit people and communities. 

This September, St. Joe’s will be raising the Survivors’ Flag, an important step in our journey towards truth and reconciliation. The Survivors’ Flag is an expression of remembrance for those impacted by Canada’s residential school system. Each of the elements depicted were carefully selected by survivors, including the seeds meant to symbolize the spirits of children who never returned home. Click here to learn more about the flag. Raising the Survivors’ Flag is a reminder of the continuing need to do better, and to take concrete action.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s final report has 94 calls to action designed to redress the legacy of residential schools and advance the process of Canadian reconciliation. Two of them pertain specifically to health care, calling for the recognition and incorporation of Indigenous healing practices as well as increasing the number of Indigenous health care workers and more cultural competency training across the sector.

As part of our commitment to the reconciliation process, St. Joe’s is taking the following actions:  

• Launching Indigenous cultural safety training for all leaders within our organization.  
• Implementing a guide designed to help individuals understand the importance of and history behind land acknowledgements in order to encourage reflection, thoughtfulness and meaning in those statements. 
• Creating a senior Indigenous lead role at St. Joe’s, the first position of its kind within the hospital. The Indigenous Lead will be instrumental in furthering the organization’s work toward reconciliation and will lead the development of an Indigenous Truth and Reconciliation Action Council as well as a framework to guide this important undertaking.
• Encouraging healthcare workers to actively engage in learning opportunities to provide more culturally safe care to Indigenous patients, and to recognize the value of Indigenous healing practices. 
• Working toward the calls to action and the recommendations in the Coalition of Hamilton Indigenous Leadership Vision for Hamilton 2030. 
• Continuing to foster psychologically safer spaces for Indigenous staff through listening tours and Senior EDI Consultant support, incorporating Indigenous resources and smudging kits into our Equity, Diversion and Inclusion (EDI) Resource space; exploring the expansion of locations at all campuses for smudging ceremonies.
• Encouraging St. Joe’s healthcare workers to take action and participate in events and learning opportunities related to the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

At St. Joe’s, we are committed to living our values of dignity, respect, service, justice and responsibility to ensuring Indigenous Peoples feel safe and supported when receiving care at our hospitals.