Where we work: health facilities subsector fact sheets

About 35,000 HEU members work in the health facilities subsector, providing services in acute care hospitals, long-term care homes and other health facilities.

HEU support workers provide a variety of services that span everything from food preparation to handling a complex inventory of hospital equipment and supplies. In addition, we represent more than 3,000 support workers employed by private contractors in BC’s health care system.

HEU trades and maintenance workers are responsible for the safe and continuous operation of the health facility’s infrastructure, equipment, energy and physical plant systems, including steam, hot water, medical gases, plumbing, heating, air conditioning, oxygen, nitrous oxide and life support systems.

HEU clerical workers carry out a wide range of duties from scheduling operations, processing physicians’ orders and ordering patient medications to purchasing supplies, paying bills on time, and arranging patient transfers and discharges.

HEU patient care workers provide numerous nursing and therapeutic services in about 20 job classifications. In the face of escalating bed and staff shortages, these workers are increasingly the “eyes and ears” for other health care professionals. They make up almost half of HEU’s membership.

HEU patient care technical workers carry out a broad scope of complex and highly specialized jobs in about 60 job classifications - most of which require ongoing training and skills upgrading, and maintaining certification in professional associations.