Co-creating access, hope and new possibilities
Growth in the time of pandemic
I am honoured to present The Royal’s 2020-2021 annual report. Our theme is Co-creating access, hope and new possibilities. This is aligned with the strategy we recently released. It also felt like the best way to define such an unprecedented year. While our world grappled with managing COVID-19, The Royal worked shoulder-to-shoulder with clients, families and community partners to develop tools that inspired hope and enabled access resulting in new possibilities for clients and our community. Even in the most challenging environment, our clinicians, scientists, staff, physicians, volunteers, clients, caregivers and community partners collaborated to nimbly solve pressing issues and ensure that continuity of care was maintained regardless of restrictions and barriers.
Our ability to deliver on our mission is so dependent on our relationships. The support from our stakeholders allowed us to forge ahead thoughtfully with key initiatives, programs and services, particularly the development of our strategy. The Royal is a resilient entity, but the extra support gave us the lift needed to achieve more than we thought possible. From our clients and families to our donors and board members, the community that empowers The Royal is strong and rich in expertise. Together, we are serving more clients, in more ways. And, we couldn’t achieve even half of that without the support of our community.
Times of unrest have often been times of great transformation. And, I wonder if it has something to do with an increase in hope. This year, hope led us to innovate new ways to deliver mental health and addictions care. Hope drove us to continue forward with the strategic planning process. Hope inspired our researchers and powered our clients and their families through the journey of recovery. At The Royal, we leveraged it like a powerful asset and saw the return pay off in tremendous ways reminding us that in our pursuit of delivering modern, impactful care, we can’t discount the power of hope.
As I look ahead to 2021-2022, I am excited to see our strategy at work. We will continue the process of engagement and co-design to ensure that our transformation is inclusive of the expertise available to us through our community. No organization will be the same as it was before COVID-19 hit, because the world is irrevocably different. The Royal, and our partners in the mental health and addictions space, will be called to support an ever growing demand for services. This year has taught us that we are well positioned to take on the challenges of the future. Our power is in our people and together, we will rise to the occasion, just as we did so many times this year, remaining a beacon of light that inspires hope and the possibility of brighter tomorrows.
Joanne Bezzubetz
President and Chief Executive Officer
Honouring our journey, people and community
The things we learned caring through a pandemic
This year served as a powerful teacher. It taught us resilience, empathy and reinforced the importance of raising the voices of those often unheard. It taught us about the power of working across the system to enact change and solve new and old challenges. Most importantly, it taught us that together, we can manage the unmanageable while still creating healing spaces and caring for individuals, and each other, during some of the most difficult moments.
I want to recognize the great efforts of our employees, physicians, clinicians, volunteers and leaders who carried The Royal through one of the most challenging years on record. This unprecedented situation tested our team members emotionally, mentally and physically. While I celebrate their perseverance and hard work, I also acknowledge the trials faced in caring for our community during a global pandemic. It wasn’t easy and it still isn’t easy, but we are hopeful for calmer days ahead. I also want to honour our community—our clients, families, donors, board members, community partners and local supporters—who walked alongside us, shoulder-to-shoulder, providing support and guidance as we held onto hope for individuals with mental health and substance use disorders. If our strength is measured by the passion of the people on our team and in our corner, then we are one of the strongest organizations operating today.
One of the signature achievements of 2020-2021 was the launch of our
new strategic direction,
Co-creating access, hope and new possibilities. I remember the conversations around pressing pause or pushing forward with the strategy. We were in the early days of the pandemic, not knowing what the future had in store. We quickly recognized the need to drive transformation. And, so we continued forward, facilitated new innovations, provided focus around key initiatives and prepared The Royal to step into a new era of impactful care and research.The possibilities ahead of The Royal are great. The opportunity to build new connections across our organization and community to the benefit of our clients and families is thrilling. We have amazing people, the right expertise, and the right approach to make a significant and lasting mark on Canadian mental health care and I look forward to celebrating all that we will accomplish together in 2021-2022.
Anne Graham
Chair, Board of Trustees
Together, we accomplish so much more
Thank you for helping us shape mental health research and care
It took an incredible community to care for our clients and serve our community this year. We want to thank our staff, clinicians, physicians, board members, volunteers, donors, corporate partners, community partners, peer health care entities, champions and friends for their steadfast dedication to co-creating hope, access and new possibilities.
Together, we are transforming mental health care and helping individuals with mental health and substance use disorders live their best life.
Thank you.
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