Mission

There is something about Providence that sets it apart, a consistent intangible that runs throughout our sites, our walls, our people. Health care is busy, and we will always be busy, but when we remain focused on our mission and keeping the Providence spirit alive, we will continue to be a workplace and a place of care that leads with compassion and social justice.

Providence in the Park

True to Providence’s mission of helping others, our community outreach project, Providence in the Park, gives staff a twice-annual opportunity to be in community with those we serve, outside of a hospital environment. PHC people head over to Oppenheimer Park in the Downtown Eastside to hand out items staff-donated seasonal clothing, blankets, toiletry kits and nutritional bagged lunches.

Keeping the Promise

Our Founding Sisters lived with the conviction that everyone had value, was deserving of care, and that compassion was an essential element of treatment.

This year saw the launch of the “Keeping the Promise Award,” which acknowledges the responsibility of furthering the work of the Sisters and honouring their legacy. The award is done on a nomination basis, and will be presented to a staff member or a volunteer who most clearly demonstrates service to those from marginalized communities and contributes to the promotion of social justice inside and outside of Providence.

Ethics conference

While projects like the new St. Paul’s and Clinical Systems Transformation (CST) are working to keep us at the forefront of health care delivery and technology, sharpening our ethical barometer is equally as important.

“Issues That Will Challenge Us for the Next 10 Years” defined this year’s four-day Ethics Seminar and accompanying annual Ethics Conference. On any regular day you might not encounter ethical dilemmas like: are health resources for First Nations accessible? When, if ever, is gene therapy appropriate to use on children? Why do global health pandemics continue to happen? But for a group of 160 attendees, those questions were front and centre.The sellout conference gave all participants food for thought, and questions we need to be asking as we look to the future of health.

Christmas stockings and elf hats

For Christmas 2016, our Mission team handed out stockings and hats to all of the babies born at St. Paul’s on Christmas day.