Please see below for the following updates:              

• New Staff Profile:  The Department of Medicine is delighted to welcome Dr. Natalia Calo, Division of Gastroenterology, to the active staff!
• Message from the President and CEO: Unity Health marks exciting milestone in electronic patient record project
• Register Now: WAM+ Summit 2023
• Road and Sidewalk Paving - LKSKI Entrance affected Friday April 28th

Dr. Natalia C. Calo:  Dr. Natalia Calo is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto and a therapeutic endoscopist at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto, where her clinical focus is the care of patients with pancreaticobiliary disease. She joins the SMH Division of Gastroenterology as of May 1.  Dr. Calo completed her medical education at the Universidad de Buenos Aires in 2010, where she graduated with honors. She trained in adult gastroenterology at the Italian Hospital of Buenos Aires. In 2016, she moved to Canada where she completed a combined clinical research fellowship at McMaster University and the Farncombe Family Digestive Health Research Institute. She also completed a Master's in Health Research Methodology with a focus on Clinical Epidemiology at McMaster University. Subsequently, she completed a two-year fellowship in Advanced Therapeutic Endoscopy at St. Michael's Hospital, University of Toronto, where she also served as the Chief Fellow. Later, she worked as an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Ottawa and therapeutic endoscopist at The Ottawa Hospital prior to being recruited by the St. Michael's Hospital group in Toronto.

Dr. Calo's research interests encompass patient-centered outcomes in therapeutic endoscopy, quality improvement in gastrointestinal endoscopy, and the incorporation of new technologies into patient care. In particular, she hopes to expand her research to understand complications of pancreatitis and the risks associated with endoscopy in high-risk patients. Dr. Calo's overall objective is to combine her clinical expertise in advanced therapeutic endoscopy with research and educational activities.

Dear Unity Health staff, physicians, learners and volunteers,

When Unity Health established our first strategic plan in 2019, we committed to transforming our digital infrastructure to create the best care experiences for our patients, residents, families and community members. A crucial piece of this work is the implementation of a new network-wide electronic patient record (EPR) system that supports multiple care environments, from home to hospital and community.

I’m pleased to share that after a robust engagement and procurement process, Unity Health has signed a contract with Epic Systems, a leading health care software company, to provide our new EPR system. The implementation of our new EPR system will set the foundation for transforming clinical care and improve the way that teams engage and connect with patients and families. This system will be pivotal in accelerating our advanced analytics program.

This is a significant milestone in this major change initiative. Thank you to the over 500 staff, physicians, learners and patient and family partners from across Unity Health who were involved in the procurement process, volunteering your time and sharing your feedback. I also want to thank our EPR project team, our Executive Committee and our Unity Health Board of Directors for your work and guidance. We’re confident that Epic’s systems are best suited to meet Unity Health’s strategic objectives and clinical requirements.

Over the next 18 months, Unity Health and Epic will work together to build and implement our new EPR system, with a tentative go live date in late 2024 or early 2025. We’re committed to employing an equity lens to this project, building and implementing a system that recognizes the various ways in which different patient populations engage with their care.

The implementation will also include considerable work to replace and consolidate many of our existing systems into a single health record. Engagement from clinical and support teams will be critical as we move through this process. We look forward to implementing a system that’s designed by clinicians for clinicians, with a focus on improving workflows, efficiencies and most importantly, patient care.

This is a significant moment in the integration journey that we’ve been on these past five years. Today, we move one step closer to transforming the care experience at Unity Health, guided by our vision of what we aspire to deliver to everyone we serve: The best care experiences. Created together.

For more information on our EPR project, please visit the EPR project page on UnityNet or check out this web story. Please also stay tuned for updates in Twice a Week, including the winner of our project naming and branding contest. Thank you for your cooperation and support as we advance this exciting project over the next two years.

Sincerely,

Tim Rutledge
President and CEO
Unity Health Toronto

 Dear colleagues,

We are excited to invite you to WAM PLUS 2023 from 12:00 to 5:00 PM at the MaRS Centre Auditorium. WAM PLUS (People that Look to Us for Support) is an opportunity for ALL of us to come together and create a space for women and their allies in the DoM to share experiences, gain valuable insight and skills, network and advocate for the development of strong female leaders in academic medicine.

We hope to engage in meaningful conversations that will help shape the future of academic medicine. It is a unique chance to celebrate the achievements of women+ in the field and to promote gender-inclusive practices that benefit everyone.

The event features three sessions:

• Session 1: The Evolution of Inclusive Leadership (women+ only)
• Session 2: Simultaneous Sessions (open to all genders):
  • Session 2a: Fertility, Family Planning and Academia
  • Session 2b: Academia and the Gender Pay Gap in Medicine
• Session 3: Microaggressions, Allyship and Advocacy (held in large group setting; open to all genders)

WAM PLUS will begin at 12:00 PM with registration and an informal lunch, followed by opening remarks at 12:45 before sessions commence. Sessions will conclude with closing remarks, where WAM+ leads will reflect on what was heard and learned.

Through generous support from the DOM at the university and hospital level, registration for the summit is free of charge. We feel strongly that there should be no barriers to this work and all our faculty should have equal opportunity to participate. However, if you have the means, donations in any amount to the Fund for the Advancement of Women in Academic Medicine are greatly appreciated, and will help ensure that this work continues into the future.

We would appreciate it if you could RSVP by May 15th to confirm your attendance. We look forward to being together in-person on June 1st, 2023 to create a meaningful and memorable experience.


Best regards, 

Umberin and Susanna
Co-chairs WAM PLUS 2023

As you know, the city has been conducting sidewalk paving work on Shuter and Victoria streets over the last couple of days.

We have just been made aware that the sidewalk directly in front of the LKSKI entrance has been rescheduled to be repaired tomorrow, Friday, April 28^th, due to inclement weather expected on the weekend.  

To access the LKSKI during this time, please enter through the Parking elevator entrance on Shuter Street. This glass door will be unlocked during business hours and you can use your card to access this door into the lobby after hours. If you have any issues with card access during this time, please call Security at 416-864-6060 ext. 5323.

Thank you,

Research Facilities