Creating Positive Spaces for 2SLGBTQIA+ patients, staff, and community members

The People of Primary Care

Welcome to our new series, The People of Primary Care: the human stories behind the healthcare you receive at your doctor’s office or healthcare hub.

Please introduce yourself.

My name is Robyn Obermeyer and I’m the Hamilton Family Health Team’s Lead for Communications & Public Relations. In 2025, I also became one of the co-facilitators of our organization-wide Positive Spaces Training: supporting staff in creating inclusive, respectful, and welcoming environments for 2SLGBTQIA+ patients, staff, and community members.

What do you do in your roles?

As Lead, Communications & Public Relations, I oversee the organization’s strategic communications plan and manage public and media relations, including our website, internal communications channels, social media, marketing, press, and storytelling.

As a facilitator for our Positive Spaces staff training, along with my colleague Helen, I deliver a 90-minute foundational training course that was developed in collaboration between the Hamilton Family Health Team, St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, and Hamilton Health Sciences.

A woman with brown curly hair stands in front of a red brick wall and the glass windows of a shop and smiles at the camera. She is wearing a black and white checkered dress.

What brought you to this profession?

I’ve loved many components of communications since I was a kid – writing, art and design in particular – and after finishing school in English Literature and Creative Writing, communications felt like a great way to use those skills regularly.

I decided to co-facilitate our organizational Positive Spaces training because as a queer person, I’m deeply passionate about advocating for 2SLGBTQIA+ equity, particularly in systems like healthcare where the 2SLGBTQIA+ community has been historically oppressed and continues to be disadvantaged today.

Why primary care?

I’m drawn towards work that feels purposeful, in particular when I can get involved in my local community. In my role, I get to support patient-centred projects across the organization, whether it’s helping get folks attached to family doctors, promoting our free health education groups and workshops, or telling the stories of the people behind the care you receive (like this profile you’re reading now!).

What brings you joy in your role?

Having access to a family doctor, primary care team, and health education can make a massive impact on your quality of life. I get so excited when I hear that a new patient got a family doctor because they heard about one of our outreach events on social media, or when we see an uptick in our free groups and workshops registrations because of a promotional campaign. More people in the Hamilton community having better access to team-based, primary health care is the goal!

A woman with long curly brown hair smiles at the camera. She is wearing a jumpsuit with rainbow flowers on it. She is standing under a tent behind a table with a Pride flag and a sign next to her that says "Greater Hamilton Health Network".

As a facilitator for Positive Spaces, I love being able to support important and sometimes tough conversations. Our goal with this training is to provide a space for staff to ask questions without judgment, challenge their assumptions and biases, and learn 2SLGBTQIA+ history and present context that they may not have heard before. Participants are often surprised to learn how prevalent homophobia and transphobia are today and how deeply these experiences impact how 2SLGBTQIA+ folks navigate the healthcare system.

We also teach some foundational principles around topics like pronoun use, gender identity, sexual and romantic orientation, and intersectionality. It’s really rewarding to hear from participants that they feel more confident supporting 2SLGBTQIA+ patients and community members after the training.

Where can we find you when you’re not in the office?

I’m an avid thrifter! When I’m not in the office you can usually find me at an antique mall or thrift store hunting for treasures. If you compliment my outfit or something in my home, 99% of the time I’ll respond with “thanks, it’s thrifted!”.

What’s something your colleagues might be surprised to learn about you?

I have a few creative hobbies that I love but I don’t think my colleagues know about. I’m a classically trained pianist and playing piano is often how I wind down after work. I paint watercolours (mostly botanical studies of flowers and plants), and I’m working on a poetry collection that I’m hoping to self-publish sometime in the future. I’ll occasionally read at poetry open mics around the city!