A $250,000 donation from The Co-operators has provided the St. Joseph's Health Centre Foundation the ability to invest in the training and wellbeing of its over 700 employees.
The Centre for Resilience, Learning and Growth, an online hub for learning opportunities, launched Wednesday morning.
It's a unique investment, according to the foundation's vice president of development.
Jennifer Hall said most of the money donated has gone toward patient and resident care, but added the insurance giant made an emphasis on ensuring this donaton goes toward the people providing the care.
"We know we need our best people to show up as their best selves in order to provide the best health care to all of us here in Guelph," she said. "The fact that they recognized that, and were willing to invest in that, is unique and quite remarkable."
She said the website, which is online now for workers to use, is just one aspect.
"There's in-person training, and there is a variety of things," Hall said. "But it's a separate website just for the Centre for Resilience, Learning and Growth.
"It's a general main access point where people can go in and view all the training opportunities and learning opportunities, whether it's online or in-person, individuals, teamwork, leadership training, all those opportunities that have been designed, you can sign up on the website."
She said it also has an ongoing developed resource library for staff to access at any point, whether it's finding something to deal with trauma-exposed work, mental wellbeing, physical fitness, training or just general information.
"People come into work every day, and we all bring our stuff from our personal lives to our work," Hall said. "We want our staff to not just feel healthy and educated and informed here, we want them to feel like that in their whole lives cause we know the better they are, the more they're able to bring their best self to work, the better care they will give our patients and residents."
It's also providing a way to showcase the expertise within its own organization.
Beforehand, Hall said the organization didn't have a central access point to allow people to let others know what they bring to the table.
"It's giving people a chance to say 'here's my areas of expertise and what I can offer and train others,'" she said. "And it gives colleagues a chance to go in and see what else is available right here within our own teams. But there will also be outsourced training and learning opportunities as well."
The goal moving forward is to grow and support other institutions within the St. Joseph's Health system, as well as other health care partners in the Guelph Wellington Ontario Health Team.
