Make this a holiday season to remember

Like everything in our lives these days, the holidays will be different this year. With nearly every aspect of life transformed by COVID-19 and physical distancing, we asked friends and colleagues how they plan to reinvent their year-end festivities. Here are a few ideas we think will lift spirits, bring smiles and make this a year to remember for all the right reasons.

Friends and families improving life in long-term care

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a difficult adjustment for the loved ones of residents. Prior to COVID, visitors were plentiful at The Gardens. These days, visitation is restricted to essential visitors and caregivers.

Hospice approach to pandemic puts families first

During the pandemic, The Hospice team is working extra hard to help our community members live their final moments well.

A community solution for surgical backlogs in Toronto

In the second wave of the pandemic, people continue to wait for the surgeries they need, as hospitals desperately try to catch up to the backlog of surgeries. Kensington Health is part of a number of organizations that has a plan to help.

Innovating care for the elderly

Within a day, WCH’s mobile COVID-19 assessment team, was at Kensington swabbing every resident and staff member.

Diversity and Inclusion at Kensington Health

This summer, while we were fighting to keep COVID-19 at bay, we were starkly reminded of an ever-present fight our colleagues of colour, specifically our Black and Indigenous colleagues, face every day.

Enhancing COVID-19 Screening

Screening plays a big part in preventing the spread of COVID-19. Kensington Health has had a team of screeners working in the lobby of the building at 340 College Street since April. Hundreds of people come through Kensington’s doors on a daily basis, so screening is no easy feat. When RKS Medical approached us to pilot an automated screening machine, we said yes.

Thank you to our Hike supporters

Kensington Hike: 10 years, nearly 1000 residents

Since then, nearly 1400 people have hiked over the last ten years, and the Hike has become a chance to both raise funds for the Hospice and raise awareness for end-of-life care. It’s also an important chance for the families of the more than 1000 people who have died at the hospice to reconnect.

Hospice jumps in to support during pandemic

Across the Kensington campus, our colleagues in the Hospice remind us that we are here to serve and to help people live their stories.

Thank you, Donna, for more than 15 years of service

Donna Punch, VP of Ambulatory Services, retired after a rewarding nursing career that spans over 49 years.

Start From Gratitude

Gratitude doesn’t seem to come as easily as griping does, but research shows that people who regularly take time to notice things they are grateful for enjoy better relationships, show greater resolve toward achieving goals and are more compassionate. It’s easy to spread and good to build.

Interview: Why Pride matters

Celebrating Pride is an important way that we stand with our LGBTQIA2S+ community members, and it reminds us of the continuous work we need to do to create inclusive spaces. We sat down with Wayne Peterson, Board Member of the Kensington Health Foundation, to discuss why Pride matters to him.

Out and proud at Kensington Health

At Kensington Health, Pride is a chance to celebrate our LGBTQIA2S+ community members, and to acknowledge the need for accepting and safe care, especially in our long-term care home.

Shirley's passion for nursing

After a long nursing career that spans more than 51 years, Shirley Gardner, a Registered Nurse, retired from the Kensington Eye Institute in June.

A Cornerstone of Diversity

The clarion call that’s been sounded in the wake of George Floyd’s death has been a rally for the world to listen to Black voices first and foremost. But listening must be more than just a spectator sport, but an active commitment to hearing, learning and acting without placing the onus on marginalized groups to educate non-marginalized people on history or their experiences.

Don't neglect your eye health

The fear of catching COVID-19 is still very real, and some patients are understandably hesitant to return to a medical clinic for care.

Standing with Kensington's Black staff members

Kensington was founded on diversity. It is not just a value we try to live, but it is at the core of who we are as an organization. In 1954, The Doctors Hospital, now Kensington, was founded with a commitment to serve the diverse community and cultures of the Kensington area.

Day in the life at the Infusion clinic

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Cherylann, and many others living with an autoimmune disease, felt scared and anxious about their health.

Beauty in Anxious Times

One of our donors, Dana Kuszelewski, a Gardens family member who has become more and more engaged with the Kensington community since the pandemic began, decided that in addition to the tins of biscuits, coffee runs and other goodies she’d brought for frontline staff – not to mention her support to the 2020 Response Fund – she needed to up the Garden’s brightness. So she called her local florist, Ivana Grahovac of Alana’s Flowers on The West Mall, to see what they could do and Ivana immediately offered Dana orchids at a very discounted price because she knew they’d last that much longer and offer much more enjoyment to staff and residents.