Issues, Campaigns and Government Relations
HSA REPORT MAGAZINE, APRIL 2016 Val Avery, President, HSA We often find our greatest strength when confronted by adversity. As a physiotherapist, I have seen people discover incredible resources inside themselves, and use them to overcome great odds. And I think every one of us working with patients and clients have seen this time and again. People are tough and...
HSA REPORT MAGAZINE, APRIL 2016 A CANCER CLUSTER IS FOUND HSA members Katrina Hammer and Anne MacFarlane, and HEU member Patricia Schmidt, all worked in the laboratory at Mission Memorial Hospital. All three contracted breast cancer, and an investigation into the cancer identified there was a cancer cluster in the laboratory – where the incidence of breast cancer was eight...
Uncertainty for HSA members working in PHSA labs has come to an end after protracted and thorough negotiations on a workplace restructuring plan that protects staff and ensures continued quality of patient care. More than one year after PHSA served Section 54 notice related to an overhaul in the structure of Lower Mainland pathology and laboratory services, PHSA and HSPBA...
HSA REPORT MAGAZINE, APRIL 2016 Report on B.C. Federation of Labour Lobby in Victoria March 7 and 8, 2016 BY ANNE DAVIS, DIRECTOR, REGION 1 The BC Federation of Labour's annual government lobby day was scheduled for International Women's Day this year. So it was decided that it should be carried out by the Women's Rights Committee. Participants focused on...
HSA welcomes plans to invest in new and upgraded health care facilities and hopes to work with the provincial government on a plan to deal with the shortage of health science professionals needed to staff them.“New buildings are only as good as the people who work in them,” said Val Avery, president of Health Sciences Association of BC. “We’re very...
The 23 recommendations made by the BC Legislature’s Committee on Children and Youth are critical to addressing the current crisis in mental health services for children and youth.Health Sciences Association (HSA) represents health professionals working in mental health and addictions in acute and community health care settings throughout the province. Members include child and youth mental health support workers, psychologists...
As a result of the Section 54 issued in February of 2015, the PHSA laboratory redesign will now be proceeding, starting with a Phase One job fair February 3 and 4, 2016. If you are not available February 3 or 4 please ensure that you speak with PHSA redesign and your HSA LRO. On January 25, 2016, PHSA issued a...
This week, the provincial and territorial health ministers are meeting in Vancouver. This is the first time the Health Ministers have met since a new federal government was elected last year. It is an important opportunity to ask the Health Ministers to "put the heart back in health care" so that our public system stays public and improves to serve...
HSA REPORT MAGAZINE, DECEMBER 2015 On October 19th, Canadians soundly rejected the Harper Conservatives' refusal to provide federal leadership on health care. Instead, we elected a majority Liberal government which made important promises during the election campaign to improve Canada's public health care system. During the campaign, Liberal leader Justin Trudeau promised $3 billion over the next four years to...
With flu season around the corner, HSA members are reminded of the provincial influenza control policy in effect in BC.In spite of changes in other provinces, the flu prevention policy in BC has not changed, and health care workers who choose not to be vaccinated have options available to them, including wearing a surgical mask.Health care workers must report their...