By Anne Leclerc
HSA member

According to research conducted by the Canadian Malnutrition Taskforce, 25 to 50 per cent of patients admitted to a Canadian hospital are malnourished. 

“That’s a significant portion of people who we serve in our hospitals,” said Jaki Thornhill, HSA member, dietitian and professional practice leader at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver.

Apply now for HSA professional development funding for health science professionals

Last fall, HSA announced a $3 million Professional Development Fund funded by the provincial government aimed at supporting health science professionals 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 focuses on supporting professional development in three areas:

By Dennis Blatchford
HSA’s pensions and benefits advocate answers common questions from HSA members. 

Have there been any developments regarding my benefit plan, the Joint Health Sciences Benefit Trust (JHSBT)?

Yes! I expect the JHSBT will soon launch a website giving members information and updates on their benefit plan going forward. The new website will be the main communication source for updates and reports on JHSBT developments.

BY DANIELLE DIONNE, ASHLEY GRANT, TANYA MILLER, AND MRIDULA MORGAN
HSA MEMBERS 

The BC government is increasing the number of training seats for occupational therapy and physiotherapy, with new seats coming to Prince George, Vancouver and Fraser Valley.

HSA applauds this announcement. These new training spaces are an important step forward to addressing the growing skills shortage in these professions. HSA has been advocating for increased training opportunities in these and other health science professions to ensure our health care system can deliver robust, team-based, and timely care to all British Columbians.

The Health Sciences Association is proud to welcome 31 new health science professionals working at the Canadian Mental Health Association, BC division (CMHA BC), to HSA. Workers were fully united, voting 100 hundred percent in favour of joining HSA.

CROSSTOWN CLINIC AND THE BEGINNING OF SUPERVISED INJECTABLE OPIOID-ASSISTED TREATMENTS
AN INTERVIEW WITH PHARMACIST TWINKLE RUPAREL

Twinkle Ruparel is an HSA member and pharmacist at Providence Crosstown Clinic in Vancouver. Crosstown Clinic is like no other in North America. It is the only clinic on the continent “to offer medical-grade heroin (diacetylmorphine) and the legal analgesic hydromorphone within a supervised clinical setting to chronic substance use patients,” according to the Providence Healthcare website.

Last fall, HSA announced a $3 million Professional Development Fund funded by the provincial government aimed at supporting health science professionals 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.
 

Health science professionals working in hospitals and communities throughout the province have voted to accept a new collective agreement that recognizes the value of health science professionals on multi-disciplinary health care teams.