KCHC expands trauma-informed care training beyond Kingston

Kingston, Ontario – January 22, 2026 – Kingston Community Health Centres (KCHC) is leading a shift in how health care is delivered, moving toward a trauma-informed, community-based model that is now gaining attention beyond the region.

Through its social enterprise, Teach Resilience, KCHC is sharing its trauma-informed primary care training with other community health centres, schools, and social service agencies looking to strengthen how they support patients and communities alike. Trauma-informed care recognizes the lasting impact of trauma on physical and mental health and emphasizes safety, trust, and understanding in every interaction. At KCHC, this approach has been embedded into primary care for years, shaping how providers engage with patients and respond to complex health needs.

“Trauma-informed care isn’t just for certain patients—it should be a universal precaution,” says Dr. Mary Rowland, a key medical advisor and facilitator at Teach Resilience. “Understanding a person’s upbringing and life experiences is essential to addressing their current health needs.”

As interest in trauma-informed care continues to grow across the health system, KCHC is training other community health centres, primary care networks, schools, and social service agencies to apply this approach within their own organizations. The training focuses on practical tools, shared learning, and system-level change, helping providers deliver care that is more responsive, equitable, and person-centred.

From January 19–21, Teach Resilience delivered its Trauma-Responsive Training at WellFort Community Health Services. This impactful session was offered to WellFort team members, as well as primary care partners from WellFort’s Primary Care Neighbourhood Network in Peel Region and North Etobicoke, along with additional practices across the Central West Ontario Health Team primary care network.

The three-day, in-person training is offered as a Queen’s University–accredited course and has already been attended by over 2,000 health care providers in the KFL&A region. Teach Resilience has also co-hosted two training sessions with the Frontenac Lennox & Addington Ontario Health Team, reaching many local doctors and clinicians.

“After learning about the results of this training in the Kingston area at a conference last year in Lisbon, we were inspired to bring this work to the system of primary care that we are building here across our region,” explains Kimberley Floyd, CEO of WellFort Community Health Services. “Like KCHC, our clients also face many complex health and social challenges, and integrating this training will help better equip our collective interprofessional primary care system to provide care that truly meets our clients’ needs and builds valuable competence and consistency in person centred care."

This upcoming session at WellFort marks the first time Teach Resilience has delivered its training outside of the Kingston region. Teach Resilience hopes this will be the first of many trainings offered across Ontario, expanding the reach of trauma-informed care in multiple service-delivery settings.

"Our goal is to make trauma-informed approaches a standard practice across Ontario, and partnering with organizations like WellFort is a critical step in that journey," explains Roger Romero, Trauma-Informed Team Lead at Teach Resilience. "By equipping more providers with these tools, we can help communities deliver care that is more responsive, equitable, and truly centred on the needs of the people they serve."