Applications are now being accepted for funding to support HSA members who work under the Health Science Professionals Collective Agreement (HSPBA) and who are pursuing professional development. The continued funding was negotiated in the 2019-2022 collective agreement, with a $400,000 contribution to the fund each year.
 
“I encourage members to apply to this fund to support their professional development, as I know that HSA members are committed to keeping their skills and knowledge current in an ever-advancing modern health care team,” said HSA President Val Avery.

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 putting in an application for an appointment as an Enhanced Disability Management Program (EDMP) regional representative. 
 

The draft 2019-2022 Health Science Professionals Bargaining Association (HSPBA) contract is now available on the HSA website for members to download or use online.

Members and stewards should be aware that this draft version may contain errors and omissions that will be corrected over the next few months as the agreement is finalized and printed. Once the printed version is finalized, employers will be responsible for the distribution of the collective agreement books to every employee covered by the HSPBA.

HSA has received confirmation from the Ministry of Health that the Temporary Pandemic Pay will be paid out to Health Authority staff on October 9, 2020.
 
The $4 an hour payment applies both to regular and overtime hours worked by health care workers covered by the Health Science Professionals' Bargaining Association (HSPBA), Community Bargaining Association (CBA), and Nurses’ Bargaining Association (NBA) collective agreements for the period March 15 to July 4. Union dues are not payable on the Temporary Pandemic Pay earnings.
 

As part of the 2019-2022 collective agreement, a joint working group of the Health Science Professionals Bargaining Association (HSPBA) and Health Employers’ Association of BC (HEABC) was established to continue the work of modernizing the HSPBA Classification System to address anomalies and regularize a number of professions and professional practice issues that have developed in a changing health care system.

HSA’s Board of Directors has voted unanimously to waive the union’s policy on collecting union dues on all employment income to exclude employment income earned under the Temporary Pandemic Pay announced May 19.
 

A serious occupational health and safety issue related to PPE in hospital magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) departments has been uncovered regarding the safety of certain masks and respirators in an MRI setting.

HSA has called on health authorities and the Provincial Occupational Health and Safety Committee to provide details on the steps underway to identify and remove any masks or respirators that may not be compatible in MRI departments, and to ensure they are not reintroduced into MRI departments.

TO: HSA members working in Long Term Care

In an effort to slow the transmission of COVID-19 in BC’s hard-hit Long Term Care facilities, BC’s Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, issued two province-wide orders aimed at restricting movement of health care staff between Long Term Care facilities. The orders went into effect yesterday, Thursday March 26, 2020

COVID 19: UPDATE TO HSA MEMBERS

The provincial medical health officer has provided regular briefings to BC’s health care unions about the developing situation worldwide related to COVID 19 (Novel Coronavirus).

Information from the medical health officers is that Canada is dealing well with this virus.

UPDATED APRIL 15