Tuesday, February 22, 2011 - 9:00am

Capital Health was named one of Canada's Best Diversity Employers on Monday, February 21. This year's list of winners includes 45 employers from across Canada taken from a field of 300 under consideration.

In the announcement, Mediacorp Canada Inc. noted Capital Health made the list in part for dedicating a full-time diversity co-ordinator to provide guidance, ongoing training and leadership in diversity. They also acknowledged the work of Capital Health's Diversity and Social Inclusion Committee, work to develop an employment equity policy, and the organization's cultural competency training program.

"This noteworthy recognition shows we are on the right path to becoming more and more fully people-centred," said CEO Chris Power. "Our Diversity and Social Inclusion Steering Committee has done tremendous work in a short time, and we know there is more to do. We are committed to this work and achieving Capital Health's goal of being a world-leading haven of people-centred health, healing and learning."

In the six years since Capital Health implemented its diversity and inclusion service, the committee and staff initiated and led:

a cultural competency education program with more than 1,000 employees attending in the past year -- up from 300 in 2009;
work on a district-wide diversity strategy and an employment equity strategy (ongoing);
increased access to interpretation services for patients;
work to make Capital Health's sacred spaces welcoming as healing spaces for all.
The diversity recommendations contained in the Community Health Boards' Community Health Plan for 2010-13 are helping to guide Capital Health's diversity work.

"We are striving to make awareness and respect for cultural and racial diversity part of the air we breathe here and in our district communities," said Mohamed Yaffa, diversity coordinator. "Respecting diversity is an important part of a healthy society."

"We have very much tightened our focus to ensure that employers . . . do (diversity) in a way that evolves into program and policy," said Richard Yerema, managing editor of Mediacorp's Canada's best diversity employer project. He noted that increased competition and tougher criteria made it more challenging to be recognized this year.

Mediacorp, the organization sponsoring the diversity award since 2008, based the awards on five major employee groups: women; members of visible minorities; persons with disabilities; Aboriginal peoples; and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered/transsexual peoples. The full report is contained in the February 21 edition of Globe and Mail. Editorial highlights from the judges' reasons for selection are also published at http://www.eluta.ca/diversity-at-capital-district-health-authority.

Winners of the Canada's Best Diversity Employers competition are chosen by Mediacorp's editorial team based on applications submitted to the annual Canada's Top 100 Employers project. This year the Diversity award's short-list was 300 out of 2,750 employers who started the application process.