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The Ottawa Hospital (TOH) has been named one of Canada’s most admired corporate cultures. We are the only Ottawa-based institution to be recognized for this award. For many years, TOH has focused on creating an environment where everyone feels safe, encouraged and empowered. Guided by compassion and commitment to patient care, TOH has developed a workplace culture that inspires confidence and trust in our employees, patients and family members.
Being recognized for our culture is a testament to our staff and physicians and the care they provide. Today, more than 75 per cent of staff report that TOH has a collaborative and team-oriented culture, as staff are guided by the shared goal of providing the best care possible to all patients. By embracing this commitment, TOH aims to make a positive difference in the lives of our employees, patients and community.
“You can’t have great health care without a compassionate culture,” said Cameron Love, President and CEO of The Ottawa Hospital. “And you can’t have a compassionate culture unless you actively cultivate trust, respect and compassion every day. A big part of my job is reminding everyone – from leadership to frontline staff and volunteers – how essential compassion is to our mission.”
Caring for our people so they can care for others
As a health-care institution, TOH strives every day to enhance how we care for our people. Coming out of the pandemic, we understand the value of helping staff and physicians care for themselves, so they can better care for others.
This approach has resulted in several major initiatives, including the opening of three new Employee Wellness Centres on our campuses and an Employee Wellness Clinic that has filled more than 2,000 appointments and booked 5,000 more since opening last year. These centres provide staff with access to a clinical psychologist or social worker, and other mental health supports. Another popular program has focused on providing over 700 TOH staff with access to family doctors.
Communication and engagement with staff are crucial to ensuring TOH lives up to its values-based corporate culture. Every year, the hospital conducts an in-depth Staff Engagement Survey, which reveals what’s working for staff, as well as opportunities for improvement.
The survey 2024 results indicate strong faith in TOH as a good place for good people. When asked about working at TOH, staff emphasized the team-based and collaborative culture that comes with providing high-quality patient care.
Strong culture is crucial to retention and recruitment efforts
Word of mouth within tight-knit nursing and physician communities is critical to recruiting success.
At TOH, our research-intensive culture of innovation is vital to building a world-class medical team. We continue to attract physicians who are not only great doctors and surgeons, but innovators determined to find health-care breakthroughs and share them with the world.
As Canada’s largest teaching hospital, we imbue hundreds of medical and nursing students annually with our values. When they join our team, many have already been shaped by TOH’s unique culture.
The hospital’s commitment to fostering a positive workplace culture is reflected in its successful recruiting efforts. In 2023, TOH added 2,275 new external hires, including 735 new nurses, and filled 3,747 positions internally.
General Campus fire puts culture to the test
The truth about workplace culture is often revealed during crises. That is what happened at TOH’s General Campus in October 2023, when late one afternoon a fire triggered a series of power failures in the patient tower. Emergency power was restored after 12 hours, and normal power was back after 48 hours. This was the largest crisis in the 100-year history of the hospital.
Under extraordinary pressure, our people pulled together to support one another. With firefighters, they carried 98 critically ill patients down eight dark flights of stairs, including nine infants from the NICU, and sent them off to other Ottawa hospitals for care. Hundreds of TOH doctors, nurses, orderlies, administrators and other staff worked tirelessly through the night, resulting in no negative patient outcomes.
Our workplace values are a guide for the future
As we work to reshape the future of health care for our community and region, we are building a new state-of-the-art hospital that will replace acute care at the Civic Campus. The new campus will become one of the most modern, accessible and technologically advanced hospitals in Canada.
Guided by compassionate patient care, innovation and staff engagement, TOH will continue to be a workplace that inspires confidence and makes a positive difference in the lives of our employees and the community we serve for years to come.
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