As a result, Ontario’s St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto has opened the Indigenous Wellness Centre. This state-of-the-art facility is helping to address the inequities in healthcare faced by Indigenous communities. The Krawczyk Family Foundation made an important early investment of $11 million into this effort. This donation will be the largest in Canada focused specifically on Indigenous wellness. Roberta Pike, director of Indigenous Wellness, Reconciliation, and Partnerships at Unity Health Toronto, is hopeful about the newly renovated space. Noelle says it will foster an incredible sense of welcome for all who enter.
The center is about so much more than this shiny new project. It represents the first step of many projects, all powered by the family’s Krawczyk Family Foundation—an extremely generous contribution. Kevin Goldthorp, the president and CEO of St. Michael’s and Providence Foundation had this to say about the investment. He underscored how it will greatly enhance healthcare access for Indigenous people.
A Space Designed for Healing
The Indigenous Wellness Centre features a variety of elements specifically tailored to create a welcoming environment for Indigenous patients and their families. Most impressively, the facility is decorated with Indigenous public art and features a dedicated HVAC system in order to facilitate ceremonial smudging. That’s why it’s so important to focus on cultural practices. More importantly, it is what enables us to provide holistic care to people who have long been marginalized within the healthcare system.
As Pike put it, the work involves creating environments conducive to people feeling like themselves. “The patients we see are coming to us, they’re very complex,” she stated, acknowledging the layers of trauma and joy that many Indigenous individuals carry. The centre provides more room for families, understanding that support systems are an important part of any healing process.
Dr. Alika Lafontaine, president of the Canadian Medical Association, 2022. He focused on how much Indigenous-led community health centres improve health outcomes for Indigenous patients. “Having these spaces is actually a really, really big part of why people end up going to a location or choosing to stay,” he noted.
Addressing Healthcare Disparities
According to Statistics Canada data, close to half of First Nations adults living off reserve said they were suffering from at least one chronic health issue. This pattern held true from 2019 to 2022. This is slightly higher than the rate of non-Indigenous adults, 40.6 percent. These figures emphasize the deeply overdue need for deliberate healthcare solutions specifically designed for Indigenous communities.
The Indigenous Wellness Centre embraces a holistic approach to help patients overcome multiple health obstacles. Pike mentioned, “This gift has expanded our ability to have more patient-facing supports on the ground in the inpatient units and in the emergency department.” By offering specialized services, the centre aspires to meet the diverse needs of Indigenous patients who have historically encountered barriers to accessing quality care.
Lafontaine further emphasized that building inclusive environments inside of healthcare institutions is vital. “The health system hasn’t always been the best place for people who are First Nation, Inuit or Métis to receive care,” he said. He says producing Indigenous-specific spaces is key. These spaces cultivate safety and welcome, particularly for those who’ve had harmful experiences with the healthcare system.
A Commitment to Reconciliation
Similarly, the establishment of the Indigenous Wellness Centre is a vital and important symbolic recognition that reconciliation and healing must extend into healthcare institutions themselves. “You really have a huge opportunity to either mitigate past harm that’s happened and create a more welcoming environment, or to prevent the possibility of people experiencing that new harm,” Lafontaine remarked.
The campaign recognizes Indigenous people’s distinct experiences of health, including anti-Indigenous racism in healthcare. Jessica Demeria expressed that, “We may be looked at in a certain way with our underlying Indigenous history informing the way that we are cared for.” This acknowledgment is important in establishing trust and creating healthy relationships between healthcare providers and Indigenous communities.
Pike concluded by highlighting the centre’s mission: “We see the people that we interact with in the hospital as an extension of our own families.” The Indigenous Wellness Centre is more than a space — it serves as a powerful, community-minded philosophy of care. It delivers equitable, compassionate, community-oriented, culturally sensitive care to everyone.
