Health Care Providers Week

As we celebrate Health Care Providers Week, let’s take the opportunity to pause and think about the incredible amount of work that health care providers do every day across a myriad of classifications for their patients, clients and residents. This dedicated and caring team of professionals includes technologists with specialized skills to frontline nursing staff who provide direct hands-on care and technical expertise; administrative professionals who manage scheduling, billing, and the ‘behind the scenes’ ebb and flow of work; our environmental services workers who provide a clean, safe and healthy place for our patients, clients, and residents to recover; our food and dietary services staff who ensure proper nutrition; our medical device reprocessing staff who ensure equipment and tools are sterilized; our facility and trades people who manage the infrastructure needs and challenges of our new and aging buildings; and our security officers who keep a watchful eye to ensure everyone in and around the buildings are safe.

They all play a vital role in the provision of health care services. SEIU-West invites you to celebrate every person on the health care team. All members of the team bring value and skill to keeping our public health care system running. This is truly the crown jewel of our provincial public service system as it reaches into so many aspects of our lives. Unfortunately, our system has been understaffed for far too long.

This chronic understaffing has led to people not choosing health care as a career because of the stagnant wages, which leaves those left in the system to do more with less people – putting them at risk both physically and emotionally.

We are encouraged by the commitment to build new facilities. However, we need people to provide the services that are being offered within these new buildings. You deserve quality public health care services. We are calling on you, members of the public, to help protect your public health care system and the people who provide the services by telling the government to put care first – end understaffing.

Send your letter of support today; visit EndUnderstaffing.ca.

Please join SEIU-West in celebrating health care providers and the incredible skill and dedication they bring to work every day.

Barbara Cape

President, SEIU-West