Strategic Plan

Two WCH clinicians in scrubs performing surgery in an operating room.
A lab technician in a white coat is wearing a mask while operating digital testing equipment.
The exterior of Women’s College Hospital with a focus on the Pink Cube, which is a room with all pink windows.

From Our Leaders

On behalf of Women’s College Hospital, we are pleased to share our new strategic plan, Healthcare Revolutionized 2030.

Healthcare Revolutionized 2030 is our roadmap to the future. Our strategy is built on the pledge that the founders of our hospital made 140 years ago and reaffirms our commitment to providing equitable, accessible, best-in-class healthcare for everyone – meeting people where they are on their healthcare journey and partnering with them to reach their goals of living their healthiest lives possible.

Curated from the voices of our diverse communities, our new strategic plan will direct the future of our clinical care, research, innovation and education – challenging all of us to advance what progressive healthcare looks like.

Guided by our revitalized mission to transform healthcare for women and gender diverse people, and reinforced by our core values, together, we will lead the new era of sex and gender in health, move the needle on health equity and reimagine the health system with and for patients.

We deeply believe in our vision of a healthier and more equitable world. And we know the bold initiatives shaped by our staff, clinicians and scientists and patient and community partners in our new strategy will bring our vision that much closer to reality.

We invite you to join us as we forge a new path and enter the next great era of our Women’s College Hospital history – revolutionizing healthcare to 2030 and beyond, for everyone.

Heather McPherson
President & CEO
Donna Walwyn
Chair, Board of Directors
Heather McPherson and Donna Walwyn posed together on a curved stairway.
A smiling nurse takes a patient’s blood pressure.
Members of the Pride Committee take a group photo during the Trans March during Pride month. The large group is smiling, holding up a banner and signs, and wearing matching WCH t-shirts.

Guided by Community Voices

As we chart our journey to revolutionize healthcare, we are guided by the voices of the diverse communities we serve. In 2023, we launched our third Community Voices Survey to help inform our new strategic plan, Healthcare Revolutionized 2030, and gain insight on the healthcare needs and experiences of women and individuals experiencing inequities.

More than 3,000 people from across Ontario completed the survey. We also held tailored focus groups to better understand the unique healthcare needs of older adults, young adults, caregivers, newcomers, Black community members, the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, individuals with disabilities, those living with low-income, and people managing chronic illnesses. Additionally, our Ganawishkadawe Centre for Wise Practices in Indigenous Health led a talking circle with Indigenous Peer Navigators.

The wisdom and insights shared by our community members helped shape Healthcare Revolutionized 2030 by bringing their specific needs to the forefront of healthcare conversations.

Their feedback will continue to inform the development of new programs and services at Women’s College Hospital to ensure we are always providing the best possible care for everyone to 2030 and beyond.

“It’s really important that we’re not just seen as patients with symptoms that can be separated from all of these other lived parts of our realities, whether that’s disability, gender, sexuality, race, all of these things.”
“Culture is an important determinant of healthcare service and experiences of newcomer women.”
“More research needs to be done on women’s health after fertility – such as perimenopause, menopause, and beyond.”
“I want my healthcare to be community-based but backed up by a hospital.”
“It makes a difference when you meet a doctor who has compassion and sensitivity, regardless of identity. It doesn’t matter to me what the identity of the provider is—I care about the compassion and the sensitivity and understanding.”
“When you go somewhere and you find that you’re being culturally respected for who you are, it’s something that makes you happy.”
A doctor wearing a stethoscope views data on a screen.
Members of a SCOPE initiative stand beneath a tree and smile.

Our Vision

Healthcare revolutionized for a healthier and more equitable world.

The Medical Laboratory team in their blue coats stand together and wave.
A team member in scrubs and a white coat stands in front of a piece of equipment reading the screen.
Two team members in the auditorium lean in close and smile.
An Indigenous Elder poses in the medicine garden with a ceremonial feather fan, smiling.

Our Mission

We transform healthcare for women and gender diverse people, delivering better outcomes, access and patient experience through equitable and connected care, learning and discovery.

An imaging technician uses ultrasound equipment on a patient’s wrist. The patient is lying down.
The Academics team takes a selfie in the WCH Peter Gilgan Atrium.

Our Values

Two members of the breast imaging team adjust a piece of mammography equipment.
Members of the Sexual Assault/Domestic Violence Care Centre team hold up four fingers and form a zero with their hands, signifying the 40th anniversary of the program.

Strategic Directions

Our strategy is powered by:
Our people
+
Academics
+
Data & Technology
+
Finance
+
Communications
Lead the New Era of Sex and Gender in Health.
Move the Needle on Health Equity.
Reimagine the Health System with and for Patients.

Lead the New Era of Sex and Gender in Health.

We want to close gender gaps and support well-being across the life span.

Gender bias creates significant barriers and impacts to health and well-being across the life span and in the context of increasingly prevalent chronic conditions.

  • Priority 1.1

    Establish Canada’s first Centre for Sex and Gender in Health to address sex and gender bias and gaps in healthcare and research that lead to poorer health outcomes, evidence gaps and inefficient health spending for women, trans and gender-diverse people.

  • Priority 1.2

    Drive precision healthcare – focused on individual needs of patients and families – for those living with complex health conditions influenced by sex and gender.

  • Priority 1.3

    Promote healthy aging by addressing the unique health and well-being needs of women and gender diverse people across the life span.

A team member smiles while helping an older patient with a bandage on her hand.

What does success look like?

We are global experts in prevention, care, learning and discovery that is focused on health for women and people experiencing health conditions that are differently and disproportionally influenced by sex and gender.

1
WCH’s prevention, care, research and education improves quality of life and health outcomes for women and people experiencing conditions that are differently and disproportionately influenced by sex and gender.
2
WCH identifies, develops and evaluates solutions to address the most critical gender gaps in healthcare.
3
WCH holds an expansive view of sex and gender, building on our expertise and advocacy in advancing health for women in ways that are respectful of diverse gender identities.
Why is this important?
Words System, Partners, Providers, WCH, Patients outlined in pink clover

System:

Addresses important system gaps including increasing demands of an aging population, sex and gender in health, mental health and integrated care across the life stages.

Partners:

WCH can be the leader and partner bridging gaps in clinical care, learning and research. Community, academic, government and health sector partners can benefit from a leader in this space to understand leading practices.

Providers:

Providers will continue to be inspired as leaders addressing sex and gender-based health gaps and building upon the foundational elements of WCH’s identity in new and meaningful ways.

WCH:

Reinforces WCH’s leadership position in Sex and Gender in Health across care, research and education. This can unlock opportunities for new and emerging public and private funding in this space.

Patients:

Focusing on clinical and research needs disproportionately influenced by sex and gender will help meet the needs of all patients that receive unequitable treatment and care on the basis of sex and gender.

Move the Needle on Health Equity.

We want to create a just and equitable health system with better outcomes.

Population health outcomes are influenced by social determinants of health. Significant inequities exist in education, training, delivery, access and incidence.

  • Priority 2.1

    Partner with First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples to improve health and well-being and elevate community health priorities.

  • Priority 2.2

    Relentlessly work to achieve health equity and reduce health disparities in partnership with communities.

  • Priority 2.3

    Build trusted, just, inclusive environments across care, learning and discovery.

Members of the WCH Equity team posing in front of a green wall.

What does success look like?

We are a trusted, socially and environmentally accountable partner transforming the health equity landscape to allow everyone to reach their full health potential.

1
WCH transforms health equity by improving access to care for populations with greatest needs as a trusted partner and system leader known for meaningful engagement with patients, caregivers, the public and communities.
2
WCH’s health and demographic information practices centre data sovereignty and justice and inform evidence-based decisions to meaningfully advance health equity.
3
WCH understands and provides the safest environment to receive and deliver care by embedding equity education and building our diverse teams, practices and principles in all that we do.
Why is this important?
Words System, Partners, Providers, WCH, Patients outlined in blue clover

System:

WCH can ensure a healthier society by meeting the health needs identified by communities, improving health outcomes and strengthening public trust in the health system.

Partners:

With community organizations helping to create better access to health for patients, WCH can continue building strong relationships with community partners to fill gaps in healthcare and as a differentiator.

Providers:

The vast majority of WCH providers choose to work at WCH because of its focus on equity and understand the importance of building trust and ensuring access to care.

WCH:

Health equity is a core, integral differentiator for WCH relative to its peers. WCH will be viewed by public and philanthropic funders as a health equity leader that drives action and this is a differentiator that attracts funding.

Patients:

WCH can promote and ensure equitable access to care by meeting patients where they are at, focusing on social determinants of health, and empowering patients in the self-management of their health.

Reimagine the Health System with and for patients.

We want to create a better integrated system of care and better patient experience across the care continuum. The Ontario health system faces many challenges with healthcare journeys often lacking access and connectivity – both within and across care settings. WCH’s ambulatory care model is uniquely positioned to address this.

  • Priority 3.1

    Lead and inform innovative outpatient and primary care models that prioritize access and coordinated care across hospital, home and community settings and realize system efficiencies.

A clinician in full scrubs hands a colleague a surgical tool during a procedure.

What does success look like?

We are innovators reimagining safe, seamless care with our partners in the most appropriate settings – whether that be home, community or hospital.

1
We are health system innovators that create and scale preeminent ambulatory and primary care models to optimize patient access and delivery of care in the right care environment(s) at reduced system costs. We are recognized across Ontario, Canada and around the globe.
2
We lead effective integrated care coordination and system navigation pathways for more streamlined and positive experiences for our patients, providers and partners, resulting in system efficiency gains.
3
We work with our partners to creatively build system capacity and ensure care occurs in the most appropriate setting– whether that be home, community or hospital.
Why is this important?
Words System, Partners, Providers, WCH, Patients outlined in green clover

System:

WCH can meaningfully innovate to help alleviate system burdens with prioritized focus on primary care access, surgical backlogs, and effective ambulatory care solutions.

Partners:

Improving system coordination will help reduce downstream pressures and support the most appropriate settings of care for patients (e.g., emergency room diversion, reduced inpatient admissions; eliminate surgical backlogs).

Providers:

Our teams are recognized as system innovators and are empowered to create new solutions and care models that improve patient and provider experience.

WCH:

Leveraging our unique ambulatory model to support new pathways for funding and partnerships that transcend traditional sectors and better reflect the evolving healthcare landscape.

Patients:

Effectively supporting seamless navigation across the patient care journey and recognizing changing patient care and service efficiency expectations. Unlocking system capacity to increase access to care for patients.

What is Sex and Gender in Health?

At Women’s College Hospital, we are committed to advancing the health of our diverse society. With our bold strengths in health for women and growing numbers of people identifying as non-binary, gender diverse and trans, our language and approaches to healthcare, education and research must adequately identify, describe, and address sex and gender-based health inequities.

As we continue to pursue excellence in health for women, it is particularly important to evolve our language to sex and gender as it better reflects the scope of our care, teaching and research so that we can be more precise, reduce inequities and better serve everyone as we work together to create a healthier, more equitable world.

Members of the Bay Centre showcase contraceptive tools in a clinical room.

What is Precision Health at Women’s?

Precision health reimagines healthcare with a focus on predicting, preventing and treating complex chronic health conditions in ways that are tailored to the unique biology and life circumstance of each person. This supports more predictive, preventative and personalized care approaches with the goal of improved health outcomes.

Precision health at Women’s will place intentional focus on understanding and addressing the most pressing health issues impacting women and gender diverse people and mitigate risks of exacerbating current health inequities. This approach will enable us to recognize and address conditions that are unique, more common or more serious in women and gender diverse people and identify distinct risk factors, response to treatment or interventions.

A lab technician in scrubs holds a sample.