Bargaining for a new collective agreement for BC’s 18,000 health science professionals working in hospitals and communities throughout the province gets underway this week as bargaining representatives for the Health Science Professionals Bargaining Association (HSPBA) and Health Employers’ Association of BC (HEABC) are set to begin contract negotiations tomorrow in Vancouver.

The Health Sciences Association of BC is pleased to announce a new $3-million professional development fund aimed at supporting members of the health care team to undertake professional development to increase specialization, improve health care service to rural and remote areas of BC, and meet ongoing requirements for professional development. The fund is available to health science professionals who work under the Health Science Professionals Bargaining Association collective agreement.

Health Emergency Management BC has activated the provincial Emergency Health Provider Registry to assist in the coordination of relief staffing for health care providers in areas impacted by the hundreds of wildfires burning across BC. Any Health Authority is able to access the registry when local emergencies create additional staffing needs.

After several years of advocacy efforts by HSA, British Columbians will see the launch of the College of New Caledonia (CNC)’s Northern Diagnostic Medical Sonography program, scheduled to begin in Prince George in January 2019.

Sonographers form a critical part of the public health team through producing sonographic images to assist medical practitioners in the diagnosis of a variety of medical conditions. An increase in training spaces in sonography will help to reduce waitlists for ultrasounds and improve patient care across BC.

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 Provincial Health Services Authority? If so, consider applying to be an Enhanced Disability Management Program (EDMP) regional representative. 

Research demonstrates that 62 per cent of working-age individuals return to work within the first year of receiving a cancer diagnosis. Yet navigating the return to work process can be challenging for cancer survivors, employers, and heath care practitioners, who all play a vital role facilitating a patient’s smooth transition back to work, to new employment, or to modified work.

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. 

HSA welcomes today’s announcement that government will fund 37,000 more MRI scans in the public system during the coming year, compared to last year.  

BC has had the longest wait times for MRI in the country for several years, resulting in many patients paying for medically necessary scans at private clinics.  Some of these patients then use these scans to jump the queue to obtain surgery or other treatment in the public system, meaning those already on public wait lists for treatment wait longer.