Name: Jack Woodman
Pronouns: they/them
Title & Department: Vice President, Strategy, Quality, Risk, Privacy
On the WCH team for: 10 years
1. Why did you decide to join the Pride Committee in such a meaningful capacity this year?
The Pride Committee brings together our 2SLGBTQ+ community and allies. I joined the Pride Committee to help WCH continue to evolve as its most inclusive and safe space for all 2SLGBTQ+ people.
For me it is a way to centre the struggles and celebrate the triumphs in our ongoing fight at the intersections of social justice and health equity. This past year has really felt like a time in the world where our rights are at risk and our community is being threatened. It can be revolutionary for trans and non-binary people to be visible in a time when there is still such misunderstanding, violence, and rhetoric against our existence.
2. What work makes WCH an inclusive place for 2SLGBTQ+ Communities?
Having diverse representation of the 2SLGBTQ+ community working and caring at WCH offers a different understanding of issues that can lead to more inclusive options and solutions. Our strategies to advance health equity and access in partnership with communities is critical to becoming a safer and more inclusive space. Things like the evolution of our electronic health record to include preferred names and pronouns; gender inclusive washrooms; and cultural competency training for staff and physicians are contributing to more inclusive space. I am deeply proud of programs like our Transition Related Surgery Program and others who are leading and modeling gender inclusive language, care and service models that are spreading awareness and inclusivity practice across WCH and our broader health system.
3. What is your greatest wish for 2023 as it relates to Pride Month and healthcare?
I want WCH to leave a legacy that ensures the next generation of 2SLGBTQ+ people will experience something in healthcare better and safer than what we have had. When we march at Pride, I want the 2SLGBTQ+ community to see that WCH believes in 2SLGBTQ+ healthcare as a human right and that we are here at the front lines in action and advocacy for that right. We represent an evolving and powerful 140-year legacy towards greater inclusion in healthcare I want to see us carry that into our future.
4. Who is your 2SLGBTQ+ Pride role model? Why?
My 2SLGBTQ+ pride role model is Dr. Michael Marshall. Michael was a friend, colleague and mentor. A psychiatrist specializing in transgender health and volunteering leadership to the Canadian Association for Transgender Health. He was renowned for his expertise and advocacy focused on dismantling barriers to gender-affirming care. He became a global voice educating medical professionals about giving safe, competent service to trans people and the broader 2SLGBTQ+ community. As a futurist, Michael sometimes couldn’t understand why the rest of the world couldn’t keep up. He once said, and certainly believed and lived into, “The potential of people like us doesn’t have an endpoint.”