When organizations talk about workplace mental health, the conversation often centers on programs, resources and good intentions.
At University Health Network (UHN), the story goes much deeper.
This is a story about what happens when an organization commits to treating the mental health of its employees with the same rigor, discipline, and evidence-based approach it brings to patient care. It is also the story of two passionate leaders, Tania Williams and Danielle De Graeve, whose commitment to employee well-being, supported by a generous donation from the UHN Foundation, helped transform mental health from a workplace initiative into a measurable organizational priority.
Serving more than 27,000 staff, physicians, and researchers across one of Canada’s largest healthcare organizations, UHN recognized a challenge many healthcare employers face: caring for people whose jobs require them to constantly care for others.
What followed was not simply the rollout of mental health training.
It became a carefully measured, evidence-based effort to build awareness, reduce stigma, increase access to support, and strengthen psychological health and safety across the organization. Through The Working Mind, Mental Health First Aid, enhanced resource promotion, peer support and leadership engagement, UHN has built a model that is helping define what an effective workplace mental health framework can look like in healthcare.
What makes UHN’s story remarkable is not simply that the organization invested in workplace mental health. It is that the team approached mental health the same way healthcare organizations approach any important clinical or organizational challenge: by identifying a need, implementing evidence-based interventions, and measuring the results. Through pre- and post-training surveys, resource utilization data and disability metrics, UHN was able to understand not only whether employees valued the training, but how it influenced awareness, help-seeking behaviours, and organizational outcomes.
Looking at Health Through a Different Lens
For Danielle De Graeve, Process and Quality Lead within Occupational Health Services, the connection between physical health and mental health has always been impossible to ignore.
As a physiotherapist by training, she has spent her career helping people recover, adapt, and thrive. During the pandemic, after moving into Occupational Health Services, she witnessed firsthand the profound impact that mental health can have on every aspect of a person’s well-being.
Rather than seeing physical health and mental health as separate conversations, Danielle viewed them as inseparable parts of the same whole.
“Physical and mental health are so blended. They need to work together in order to holistically support an individual to succeed.” – Danielle De Graeve
That perspective became foundational to UHN’s evolving approach.
At the same time, Tania Williams was bringing a different but equally important perspective.
Having worked at UHN for more than 23 years, she understood the employee experience from the inside. Before becoming Manager of Wellness, she had participated in wellness initiatives as an employee herself and understood both the opportunities and the barriers employees experience when trying to prioritize their own health.
As Wellness became more closely aligned with Occupational Health Services, Tania and Danielle saw an opportunity to create a more connected employee experience. Rather than viewing wellness, occupational health, disability management, and psychological safety as separate functions, they began looking at them as interconnected parts of a larger journey.
The result was a more holistic view of employee health. One focused not only on supporting people when challenges emerged, but on creating the conditions that help employees stay healthy, resilient, and supported in the first place.
Meet the Champions Behind the Change
One of the most striking aspects of UHN’s story is the combination of passion and evidence that drove the work forward.
Danielle speaks openly about her desire to support healthcare workers who are often so focused on caring for others that they neglect their own needs. Her experiences during the pandemic reinforced the importance of recognizing mental health challenges early and ensuring employees know where to find support.
Tania’s approach has been equally rooted in service and continuous improvement. Throughout her career at UHN, she has focused on listening to employees, understanding their needs, and removing barriers to support. Rather than assuming a resource was effective, she wanted evidence that it was creating value.
Together, they helped guide a strategy that balanced compassion with accountability.
Like many organizations, UHN believed mental health mattered.
Unlike many organizations, they set out to prove their efforts were working.
Building an Evidence-Based Mental Health Strategy
As UHN emerged from the most acute phase of the pandemic, leaders recognized that employees were still carrying significant stress and emotional burden.
The immediate crisis had eased. The need for support had not.
Healthcare workers were still navigating the realities of demanding work environments, exposure to trauma, and the cumulative effects of years spent caring for others through extraordinary circumstances.
After evaluating available options, UHN selected two evidence-based programs from the Mental Health Commission of Canada:
- The Working Mind
- Mental Health First Aid (MHFA)
The programs aligned closely with UHN’s vision of providing practical tools, building mental health literacy, reducing stigma, and helping employees access support earlier.
But implementation was only the first step.
From the outset, Tania and Danielle introduced pre- and post-course surveys to measure outcomes and understand participant experiences. Their focus was not simply on participation. They wanted to know whether knowledge, awareness, and behaviour were actually changing.
This decision would ultimately become one of the defining features of UHN’s approach.
Like many healthcare initiatives, mental health programming was treated as something that should be measured, evaluated, and continuously improved.
The result was a mental health strategy built not on assumptions, but on evidence.
The Phases of an Evolving Culture
Phase 1: Awareness, Connection and “Aha” Moments
The first signs of impact appeared inside the classroom.
Participants consistently described moments of recognition and realization.
Sometimes these “aha” moments came from learning something new. More often, they came from recognizing themselves in the material, connecting concepts to their own experiences and rethinking assumptions about mental health.
Tania recalls experiencing this herself.
“You think you’re well-versed, and then you get into this course and think, ‘Wow! There’s something new that you can take away no matter what your background may be.” – Tania Williams
The shared nature of the learning experience also proved powerful. Leaders from different departments learned together in the course for Managers, as did cross-functional teams in the Employee course.
Participants discovered that many of the challenges they were carrying were not unique. They were shared.
That sense of connection reduced isolation and created opportunities for honest conversations about mental health.
Key Outcome
Post-course data showed more than a 40% increase in participants’ awareness of available mental health tools and resources.
Survey feedback further reinforced the value of the training, with participants consistently describing sessions as:
- Useful
- Excellent
- Something that “should be mandatory”
For UHN, these early results confirmed they were on the right path.
Just as importantly, they validated the team’s belief that mental health education could create meaningful change far beyond the classroom.
Phase 2: Language Changes, Culture Begins to Shift
The next phase of impact appeared almost immediately after training.
It started with language.
Teams began paying closer attention to the words they used when discussing mental health. Conversations became more thoughtful. Stigmatizing language became less common. Person-centered language became more prevalent.
Tania identified this as one of the earliest and clearest indicators of change.
“One component that really stood out to a lot of us was being more mindful of the language that we’re using.” – Tania Williams
Danielle saw similar shifts across UHN.
As individuals became more informed, the way they spoke about mental health evolved. Conversations became more inclusive, respectful, and supportive.
These shifts may seem small, but they matter. Language influences culture. And culture influences whether people feel safe enough to ask for help.
By changing how people talked about mental health, UHN was beginning to change how people experienced mental health conversations altogether.
At the same time, employees were becoming more aware of resources available to them, many for the first time.
Training helped bring visibility to programs such as:
- Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
- Mental health benefits
- Peer support
- Internal wellness supports
- Community mental health resources
Awareness was growing. Soon, utilization began growing too.
Phase 3: When Culture Starts Showing Up in the Hallways
For Tania and Danielle, some of the most meaningful signs of change occurred outside the classroom.
Weeks and even months after training, participants continued discussing concepts from The Working Mind in meetings, hallways and informal conversations. Facilitators frequently encountered employees who were still applying and reflecting on what they had learned.
The tools were no longer confined to work. Employees described using them with spouses, children, friends, and family members. People became more curious about what others might be experiencing beneath the surface.
Instead of assuming difficult behaviour was personal, employees increasingly approached situations with empathy and understanding.
Leadership was changing too.
Danielle observed a gradual shift away from command-and-control leadership toward more supportive and connected leadership styles.
“I love seeing this transition of leadership to a more supportive, connective style.” – Danielle De Graeve
One example particularly resonated.
A leader openly shared with their team that they were having a difficult day and planned to spend time over the weekend “filling up their cup.”
The comment was simple. The impact was not.
Employees later shared how meaningful it was to see a leader demonstrate vulnerability and openly model healthy coping behaviours.
Those moments became important signals that UHN was creating a safer space for people to be honest about their mental health.
For Danielle, this shift represents one of the most hopeful aspects of the organization’s culture change journey: leaders modelling the same behaviours they encourage in others.
The Results UHN Could Measure
For many organizations, culture change can be difficult to quantify.
UHN’s commitment to measurement allowed the team to move beyond anecdotal feedback and examine what was changing across the organization.
The results suggest that increasing awareness, reducing stigma, and improving access to support can create meaningful shifts in how employees engage with available resources.
Key Results
Over 700 Healthcare Workers Participated
- Over 700 healthcare workers participated in workplace mental health education initiatives, including The Working Mind and Mental Health First Aid.
More Than 40% Increase in Resource Awareness
- Participants demonstrated a 40%+ increase in awareness of available mental health tools and resources following training.
Mental Health Benefits Utilization Increased by More Than 70%
- The Organization’s efforts to enhance promotion, education, and awareness led to a more than 70% increase in mental health benefit utilization.
EAP Utilization Exceeded Industry Averages
- Employee Assistance Program utilization increased slightly over the two-year mental health initiative.
Employees Felt More Connected
- Individuals who accessed UHN’s Peer Support program reported feeling: “Connected” and “Genuinely heard”
Impact on Disability Management
- By 2025, there was a reduction in the average new claims per month and claim duration as compared to the previous 4 years
For Danielle and Tania, these numbers reinforce an important lesson:
Success is not measured by how few people use mental health supports.
Success is measured by whether people know support exists, feel comfortable accessing them, and receive help sooner.
Why UHN Is a Trailblazer
Mental health in the workplace is not a new concept. What sets UHN apart is how effectively the organization has created traction.
Rather than relying on awareness campaigns alone, UHN built an ecosystem that combines:
- Education
- Resource promotion
- Measurement
- Leadership commitment
- Strategic partnerships
- Psychological health and safety initiatives
- Continuous improvement
Word of mouth helped drive demand. Leaders helped model healthy behaviours. Employees became advocates for the training. Data helped sustain momentum.
Together, these elements created conditions where workplace mental health could move beyond policy and become part of everyday practice.
What makes UHN a trailblazer is not that they introduced mental health training.
It is that they demonstrated how to integrate mental health into the fabric of organizational health.
They approached workplace mental health the way healthcare organizations approach clinical quality improvement:
- Identify a need.
- Implement evidence-based interventions.
- Measure outcomes.
- Learn from the data.
- Continue improving.
That mindset offers a powerful model for other organizations seeking to move beyond intention and into action.
The Journey Continues
Tania and Danielle are the first to say the work is not finished.
UHN continues to expand support, refine resources, and explore new ways to strengthen employee well-being. Toolkits, enhanced resource navigation, and continued psychological health and safety initiatives are all part of the organization’s ongoing vision.
What remains unchanged is their commitment to supporting the whole person.
And their belief that mental health deserves the same attention, care and evidence-based approach as every other aspect of health.
As Tania reflects:
“If everyone is mindful of being a model in their role, whether it’s a leader or not, and supporting each other as a community, that will really have the biggest impact.” – Tania Williams
Conclusion
UHN’s journey illustrates what is possible when workplace mental health is approached with the same commitment to evidence, continuous improvement and person-centered care that defines excellence in healthcare. By combining education, resource promotion, leadership engagement and meaningful measurement, the organization has built a strong foundation for lasting cultural change, while generating measurable improvements in awareness, support utilization and employee well-being.
While the work continues, the results to date demonstrate that investing in mental health is not simply the right thing for employees. It is a critical component of building healthier, stronger, and more resilient organizations.