news & announcements

25 Years of Culturally-Aware Care

June 14, 2023

SOAHAC is excited to celebrate 25 years of supporting and delivering culturally-aware care across Southwestern Ontario to more than 35,000 First Nations, Métis and Inuit people. 

In 1998, we started by providing a select few services both on-reserve in Chippewa and off-reserve in London as we worked to understand community needs and build towards a strong future by securing ongoing, critical funding. 

From this humble beginning, SOAHAC has worked with countless patients, families and professionals to become known as a centre of excellence for the incorporation of Indigenous knowledge within health care. But this achievement is not about us as an organization, it’s about everyone we have served and can serve in the future. We continue to strive to empower Indigenous families and individuals to live a balanced state of well-being by sharing and promoting wholistic health practices, and to advocate for more awareness of and resources toward culturally-aware care across our region. 

As we reflect on the impact of 25 years of culturally-aware care, we are grateful also to pause and applaud  the dedicated staff team, who deliver exceptional care and compassion to our clients every day – and with a focus on rebuilding trust in the healthcare system. 

Keeping Indigenous Health in Indigenous Hands is critical and that’s why we continue to invest and expand to deliver more high-quality programs and services for the patients and families we have the privilege to serve. All of this, and so much more, is why we are so excited to kick off celebrations of 25 years of service, and why we will continue to celebrate our staff and their hard work, and the wellness gains of each and every client and family, over this coming year and beyond.