Community Health Services and Support

In celebration of Mental Health Week taking place May 7-13, HSA has launched a new video that explores why team-based interdisciplinary care is essential to providing quality patient care within the field of mental health and addictions. “We need to see a person as a whole person,” says Kaye Robinson, a social worker at the Rapid Access Addictions Clinic at...

Are you an HSA member with a passion for disability management and rehabilitation? Do you have strong organizational, multi-tasking, and problem-solving skills? Are you employed with the Vancouver Island Health Authority? If so, consider applying to be an Enhanced Disability Management Program (EDMP) regional representative. Under the direction of designated HSA staff, the HSA EDMP Regional Representative works as part...

HSA REPORT MAGAZINE, JUNE 2017 Recognition of diversity is now essential to the health of our society and the strength of organizations. Today, leading institutions seek to understand the unique experience of their members in order to better represent and serve them. HSA has long sought to understand and respect the diversity of our members, and in March, almost 800...

HSA REPORT MAGAZINE, JUNE 2017 BY DENNIS BLATCHFORD HSA PENSIONS AND BENEFITS ADVOCATE I received HSA's recent clarification on payroll changes and the reference to members' long-term disability contributions now being directed to the new Joint Health Sciences Benefit Trust (JHSBT). Since the JHSBT is now receiving benefit contributions, I'm wondering what members might expect now. The new JHSBT did...

Printer-friendly version.Starting with the first pay period after February 1, 2017, most HSA members can expect a pay increase of 0.35% over and above the 5.5% increase rolling out over the life of the current contract. This increase is the result of the Economic Stability Dividend, a feature of the current agreement which requires the government to increase negotiated wages...

Important information about bc government changes that affect your drug coverage plan The BC Government has announced that the Reference Drug Program, which forms part of the provincial PharmaCare plan, will be expanding effective December 1, 2016. What this means for all HSA members who work under public sector contracts (HSPBA, NBA, CSSEA, CBA) is that some medications which are...

HSA REPORT MAGAZINE, SEPTEMBER 2016 BY VAL AVERY, PRESIDENT, HSA We're hearing a lot of interesting things from members like you. Over the summer, HSA circulated several surveys and invited members to participate in focus groups. Each explored different challenges and opportunities facing our union, and we'll be following up this fall with additional surveys, worksite visits and the annual...

Your elected HSA representatives and staff have been hard at work since the union's 45th convention in May. The upcoming regional meetings will be a good opportunity to provide updates on that work, and a chance for stewards and other activists to connect and discuss the issues in your region. In preparation for those meetings, please take a few minutes...

During bargaining for the current community health collective agreement, the parties agreed in Memorandum of Agreement #34 to investigate the need to establish a new benchmark for the job Medical Office Assistant. To assist with the required investigation, a union survey has been developed for distribution to Community Health Subsector members whose job description features the job title Medical Office...

HSA REPORT MAGAZINE JULY 2016 BY VAL AVERY, PRESIDENT I am very proud of what we have achieved in the last 45 years. I am especially proud of what we have been able to achieve in these last few years. In the face of governments determined to squeeze our members for every penny, we have adapted, finding ways to achieve...