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Accessibility

On January 1, 2010, the Accessibility Standards for Customer Service regulation, under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), came into effect. The regulation's standard requires public sector organizations, such as the Health Services and Health Professions Appeal and Review Boards and the Health Boards Secretariat (the Health Boards), to provide accessible customer service to persons with disabilities.

In order to implement the Customer Service Standard, the Health Boards have developed policies, practices and procedures to ensure that there are no barriers to accessing services. All of these documents are publicly available.

Follow these links to review our Customer Service Framework and Multi-Year Accessibility Plan.

These links access our Boards' Accessibility Member Practices & Procedures and Staff Practices & Procedures.


Will I be able to Access the Boards' Services?
If you require accommodation to access the Health Boards' services or would like more information, please contact the Health Board Secretariat at 416-327-8512 or at hbs@ontario.ca.


How do Board members and staff know how to provide Accessible Services?
The Health Boards' members and staff have been trained in the fundamental aspects of accommodation in customer service according to the recent government standards. Each one should be able to take the appropriate steps to accommodate people's requirements for accessing Board services.
The Boards' training plans can be seen here - Board Member Training Plan and Staff Training Plan.
Accessibility Commitment
The Health Boards at all times strive to provide our services in a way that respects the dignity and independence of people with disabilities. We are committed to ensuring that people with disabilities have the same opportunity to access and benefit from our services in the same place and in a similar way as others and to the removal of any barriers that may impede full accessibility for people with disabilities. We are guided by the principles of fairness, openness and accountability in every aspect of our work and seek customer comment and input about the accessibility of our services

The Health Boards are committed to excellence in serving everyone who seeks our services or appears before us including people with disabilities. We will carry out our functions and responsibilities in accordance with the Ontario Human Rights Code in all areas of our services.
How can I give feedback to the Health Boards about their Accessibility Services?
The Health Boards' invites you to provide feedback about your interactions or any issues you might have experienced with the Boards' Accessibility Services.

When providing us with your comments, please use this Accessibility Customer Feedback Form.

Under the Customer Service Standard the Boards must,
1.   Establish policies, practices and procedures on providing our services to people with disabilities that are consistent with the core principles of independence, dignity, integration and equality of opportunity
2.   Set a policy on allowing people to use their own personal assistive devices to access and use our services and about any other measures our organization offers (assistive devices, services, or methods) to enable people to access and use our services.
3.   Communicate with a person with a disability in a manner that takes into account his or her disability.
4.   Allow people with disabilities to be accompanied by their guide dog or service animal in those areas of the premises we operate that are open to the public, unless the animal is excluded by another law. If a service animal is excluded by law, we must use other measures to provide services to the person with a disability.
5.   Permit people with disabilities who use a support person to bring that person with them while accessing our services in those areas that are open to the public or third parties.
6.   Provide notice when our facilities or services that people with disabilities rely on to access or use our services are temporarily disrupted.
7.   Train our Board members, staff, contractors and any other people who interact with the public on a number of topics as outlined in the customer service standard.
8.   Establish a process for people to provide feedback on how we provide services to people with disabilities and how we will respond to any feedback.
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