News & Updates

A once in a generation opportunity to improve workers' legislation. Join us! A message from HSA President Val Avery Dear HSA members, I am writing to you today with an important request in our ongoing work to improve the rights, protections and benefits available to BC workers. We are at pivotal moment in time. The provincial government is about to...

HSA is offering a 1 day, non-partisan election campaign school for members who are interested in getting more involved with the upcoming federal election. With general voting day set for October 21, 2019, political campaigns are quickly gearing up and many important issues will start to shape the national conversation on who is best to lead our country. At HSA...

Val Avery, a physiotherapist from Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria, was re-elected Friday at HSA’s annual 2019 Convention for another two-year term. “I have your backs. I am committed to working on your behalf, very diligently, day in and day out,” said Avery to delegates during her acceptance speech on April 5. “We need to work together, and the more...

ABOUT SHAI I have be en working at the BC Cancer Agency as a Cytotechnologist for 10 years and in that time, I’ve learned about the union and what opportunities are available to its members. I first became a steward in 2013 and then later trained to be an Occupational Health and Safety Steward. Since then, I have been an...

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...

ADVISORY COUNCIL RELEASES INTERIM REPORT ON NATIONAL PHARMACARE: CONCERNS RAISED OVER FINANCE MINISTER'S PERCEIVED CONFLICT OF INTEREST The Advisory Council on the Implementation of National Pharmacare released its interim report on March 6. The council was established with a funding commitment from the federal government’s 2018 budget, and has been tasked with recommending measures for implementing affordable national Pharmacare for...

As the province undergoes major reform to the delivery of primary care in BC, we have a valuable opportunity to learn from and build off the successes seen in other jurisdictions. HSA has long been an advocate for expanding team-based approaches to primary and community care. They allow health professionals with specialized knowledge and skills to collaborate to optimize patient...

Jas Giddha has been re-elected to serve a two-year term as a member of HSA’s Board of Directors, representing HSA members in Region 7 from several worksites, including Surrey Memorial, Peace Arch, Abbotsford, and Chilliwack Hospitals, and the Fraser Valley Centre for Child Development. Giddha is a medical radiation technologist at Surrey Memorial and Peace Arch Hospital, and has been...

HSA members have elected Carla Gibbons to serve a two-year term on the union’s board of directors representing Region 5, which includes a number of worksites in the Lower Mainalnd, including BC Children’s and Women’s Hospital and the Vancouver Cancer Centre. A cytotechnologist at the Vancouver Cancer Centre, Gibbons has been active in the union and began volunteering as a...

Cheryl Greenhalgh has been re-elected to serve a two-year term as a member of the HSA’s Board of Directors, representing HSA members in Region 3 from several worksites spanning from Burnaby Hospital to Eagle Ridge Hospital and SHARE Community Services in the Tricities. Greenhalgh is a medical radiation technologist at Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster, where she serves as...