Posted on: July 7, 2022
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Thanks to the 320 staff and medical staff who joined our Town Hall on Tuesday, July 5th to hear the latest organizational updates from senior leaders. Here's a recap:
Island Health President and CEO Kathy MacNeil thanked care teams for the great response to the critical incident in Saanich on June 28th. Even if you weren't involved in that response, it can take a toll. A reminder to take care of yourselves and each other – and seek supports and help if you need it.
Kathy reiterated our commitment to continue working on diversity, equity and inclusion throughout the year. One of the ways we are doing this is by redesigning our photo ID cards to make them more legible for people with vision impairments, and providing space on the card for preferred first and legal last names, along with option of adding gender pronouns. Read more about that here.
Since moving to virtual meetings during the pandemic, the first in-person board meeting was held in Campbell River last week. It was a great opportunity to see familiar faces and reconnect with the community on possibilities, such as a proposed new 153 bed long-term care home next to the Campbell River Hospital. If approved, these net new beds will provide seniors and elders with high-quality care closer to home, while also reducing the numbers of people waiting in hospital for long-term care placement.
Kathy also shared news of Dr. Réka Gustafson joining the Island Health leadership team at VP Population & Public Health and Chief Medical Health Officer on September 13th – and she thanked Dr. Murray Fyfe for stepping into a temporary role that ended up being a lot longer than anticipated. “Murray said yes to what we thought would be a 3-month request, which turned out to be 9 months. I want to say how much we appreciate [Murray] and how much we've benefited from [his] leadership."
On the Pandemic front, Dr. Murray Fyfe reported on the new Omicron variants and plans for fall vaccines. It is recommended that everyone take steps to ensure you're up to date for vaccines (primary 2 doses + 1 booster for most – and 2 boosters for adults 70+, Indigenous 55+ and seniors in care homes). We expect to hear about an expansion in the second booster program soon. Vaccine manufacturers (mRNA) have updated vaccines for the new Omicron strains and we are hopeful these will be fully evaluated and ready for a fall roll-out. Omicron sub-variants (BA4 & BA5) are gaining momentum and are seen in approximately 6-7% of known cases on the island right now. Both sub-variants spread more readily, but are not show any more severity in terms of illness. With it being the summer months (warmer weather, people outside, more ventilation) we are hopeful that it will have less of a noticeable impact than previous waves. Also be familiar with updated guidance on returning to work after a COVID infection.
Kris Nielsen, Executive Lead of the HHR Strategy and Joanne MacLaren, Strategy Leader for HHR Strategies 4 and 5 presented on key updates that took place through May and June. You can read more about that here.
As always, there were great questions and answers provided and we will get those online as soon as possible. Most questions were HR focused this month. Two of the top questions and responses were:
There was a suggestion on the HHR forum of having a staff medical clinic. Many staff are without primary care and working overtime. Is this feasible?
There was a desire for a staff-specific medical clinic identified through the HHR engagement process. We are exploring an on-site primary care clinic option – but to align with legislation it would also be for public – not just for staff. An onsite clinic would provide ease of access for staff, so we are exploring the idea. We are in the early stages of this work. More will be shared as known.
What is the expected service level agreement for Pay Query resolution? Over the past months, it has often taken 4+ weeks for a response or pay correction.
It is frustrating when you have a question about your pay and you don't receive a response quickly. Our payroll team has seen a large increase in pay queries in the past year, due to payroll changes and the high volume of new staff in Island Health. Normally we aim to have them responded to within one pay period, but sometimes that is longer and people are getting responses within two pay periods. The team acknowledges this is an issue and is looking at options to improve this service/response time.
Hear audio from the Town Hall.
NOTE: Town Halls have now moved to quarterly. The next Town Hall will take place on Tuesday, September 13th from noon-1pm.