The Report

The Report: April / May 2008 vol.29 num.1 by REID JOHNSON year ago, delegates to HSAs convention gave me a mandate to lead your union into the future. On the eve of the unions 37th convention, Ive taken this opportunity to look back at the past year and consider what I, and your board of directors, have done collectively to...

The Report: April / May 2008 vol.29 num.1 by ALISON HIETANEN Im covered by the health science professionals contract, but I was injured on the job. Currently, I am on an accepted long term disability claim and receiving monthly benefits. I now feel well enough to try returning to work. What steps should I take? Do I have to return...

The Report: April / May 2008 vol.29 num.1 by ANNE LECLERC mployment in a residential care facility can be very rewarding! After working in a 52-bed hospital in northwestern British Columbia for over two decades, I accepted the challenge of working at St. Vincents Langara ... a large urban residential care facility caring for 221 elders. The facility is run...

The Report: April / May 2008 vol.29 num.1by LAURA BUSHEIKIN ancouvers Downtown Eastside, known as the -worst postal code in Canada" due to the despairingly high level of drug addiction, homelessness, mental illness, extreme poverty and general social dysfunction experienced by its residents, is ‘the office for HSA member Sandra Boyd. Her clients have both a mental health and addiction...

The Report: April / May 2008 vol.29 num.1 orkload and resulting stress is a chronic problem in HSA workplaces, both in health care and in the social services sector. HSA members know first hand that BC is experiencing a shortage of skilled, highly-trained health care and social services staff. And BC is not alone. In 2005, health science professionals working...

The Report: April / May 2008 vol.29 num.1 Too tired to work? WorkSafeBC Regulation can provide relief espite well-documented risks, alternating or rotational shiftwork remains a significant part of many HSA members work schedules. This is exacerbated by staffing shortages, resulting in an increase in extra and extended shifts, as well as constantly changing schedules that cycle from days, afternoons...

The Report: November 2007 vol.28 num.5 by REID JOHNSON t the end of October, I wrapped up my first series of annual RegionalMeetings. The Regional Meetings are an opportunity for me, and forboard members, to meet for a full day with stewards from workplaces inall ten HSA regions around the province, and to learn about the issuesthat are most important...

The Report: November 2007 vol.28 num.5 n the last column, we outlined your privacy rights when an employerasks for proof after missed work due to illness. This time, we take alook at a similar issue: when an employee is entitled to workplaceaccommodation due to disability or health issue, how much medicalinformation must be disclosed ? Im returning to work after...

The Report: November 2007 vol.28 num.5 Retired lab tech makes national news by fending off bear attack by LAURA BUSHEIKIN uring her 28-year career as a medical technologist, retired HSA member Jane Tillotson was regularly involved in saving lives with her professional skills. But her most celebrated life-saving act came a year after her retirement. This time, it was her...

The Report: November 2007 vol.28 num.5 by LAURA BUSHEIKIN ike most health science professionals, HSA member Vikki Tellier can talk at length about ways to improve our health care system. And she has impressive credentials for such a conversation: five years as an occupational therapist, in addition to 21 years as a physiotherapist at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital, combined with...