Your voice matters: opportunities to engage in health care
At VCH, patient and public participation is an important part of developing an accessible and equitable health care system.
VCH’s Community Engagement team works across our health region and all areas of care, supporting and facilitating dialogue between VCH and our communities. A strong connection to community voices helps improve our health care programs, projects and supports, and reflects the unique needs of local communities.
In 2022, we engaged with communities on numerous programs and services including:
- Connecting with patients and their families to review the mandate of the Tertiary Mental Health and Substance Use program.
- Collaborating with George Pearson Centre residents and community partners to identify a new, culturally appropriate name.
- Inviting patient advisors to provide input into redevelopment projects at Richmond Hospital and Lions Gate Hospital.
- Providing input on the redesign of our website, vch.ca, that resulted in increased accessibility, Indigenous representation, as well as making it easier to find and understand content.
- Working with Indigenous communities to seek input on several art projects, helping infuse Indigenous art and culture into our care facilities.
In total, community members supported 45 health care projects and we received input from more than 2,000 individuals through digital surveys, interviews, focus groups and advisory recruitments.
VCH received two international awards for engagements informing translation and interpretation services.
This work led to the standardization of translation practices at VCH when delivering health information to VCH communities with limited English fluency.
Interested in getting involved?
Learn more about community engagement opportunities.