News & Updates

On Friday December 9, 2016, the provincial government announced a proposal to establish a new college of diagnostic and therapeutic health professions. Many HSA members would be included in the new college. Professional associations representing members from several health science professional disciplines have for several years advocated for a regulatory college or colleges to oversee their members’ practice. The new...

HSA support available to run or work in May 9, 2017 provincial election Printer-friendly bulletin for posting. HSA members throughout the province who are running for office or working in the upcoming provincial election may apply to HSA for financial support from HSA’s Political Action Fund. 1. Members who are candidates may apply for up to 30 days of wage...

Political Action Fund support for members to work on issue-based campaigns and attend political action training With a provincial election coming up, there are several grassroots, issue-based campaigns that members may want to work on, as well as opportunities to attend training to work on these campaigns or to work on candidate/party election campaigns. Members may apply for up to...

The Community Social Services Employers Association and Community Social Services Barganining Association Committee has been working jointly to determine necessary wage adjustments, which are scheduled for April 1, 2017 and April 1, 2018. The wage grids for 2017, including the Economic Stability Dividend and General Wage Increase, will be released shortly. The committee reviewed all 62 benchmarks and agreed to...

HSA REPORT MAGAZINE, DECEMBER 2016 NUPGE scholarships are open to the children, grandchildren or foster children of HSA members who are starting a post-secondary education. Each year, the National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) offers scholarships that reflect its pursuit of equal opportunity for all workers. Historically there have been four scholarships, and for 2017, NUPGE has added...

Printer-friendly version.Starting with the first pay period after February 1, 2017, most HSA members can expect a pay increase of 0.35% over and above the 5.5% increase rolling out over the life of the current contract. This increase is the result of the Economic Stability Dividend, a feature of the current agreement which requires the government to increase negotiated wages...

HSA REPORT MAGAZINE, DECEMBER 2016 There are a lot of good reasons to get involved in an election campaign. Many members decide to work on an election campaign because they belong to a political party, or get inspired by the party leader. Lexie Mercier, a health information management professional at the BC Cancer Agency, had a more personal reason. Lexie's...

HSA REPORT MAGAZINE, DECEMBER 2016 Shortages of health professionals are hurting patient care and the people who deliver it. HSA is taking action by raising public awareness of how shortages create longer wait times, while mobilizing members to provide key information on where and how the resulting workload issues are happening. This fall, HSA rolled out a new ad using...

HSA REPORT MAGAZINE, DECEMBER 2016 When physiotherapist Fabiola Toyata returned to hospital work in Prince George after a 10-year absence, she had a bit of a rude awakening. Workload challenges, always a tough issue in healthcare, had skyrocketed in the course of a decade. "I saw a huge change in workloads, in acuity, in the number of patients. Also, the...

HSA REPORT MAGAZINE, DECEMBER 2016 Employers in BC are legally required to investigate certain workplace incidents. Those include events involving an injury to a worker where medical treatment was required, but also include minor injuries or near-miss events that had the potential to cause serious injury. Near-miss or close call events imply that if things had gone a little bit...