Women’s Health should be so much more than just a catchy tag-phrase.
It should be an approach to healthcare, centered on the specific and particular needs of a woman, which recognizes the subtle and innate differences of a woman’s physiological and psychosocial make-up.  It should be whole-bodied, recognizing that a woman is so much more than her gynecology.  It should be comprehensive, understanding that gender-specific attention to healthcare is something that must carry a woman through her whole life – through every experience – integrating everything she is into the approach to her healthcare.

Women’s Health should include every discipline that touches upon women, and every service women require. It should be transitioned away from the traditional “bikini approach” (focusing just on those areas covered by this garment) toward a more advanced “burka” approach - covering the woman from head to toe.

The RVHF Women’s Health Initiative supports both the programs defined in the current Women’s Health Mission at the MUHC, as well as those belonging to an expanded, full-body view of women’s health. We are not introducing new facets into the MUHC, we are simply bringing a formal recognition of what services already exist within the MUHC network that are crucial to the specific and particular needs of a woman.  The MUHC has long been a central and irreplaceable resource for women, and we are now shedding light on the areas that have not previously been highlighted to the community.

We are redefining what Women’s Health is, and we are inviting the women of this community to rally behind us, so that Women’s Health may be recognized – in all its complexities – for what it is and what it could be.