Getting patients moving, so they keep their strength while they’re recovering, is a big part of rehabilitation
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“I’ve been an HEU member for 20 years in July. I work as a Rehabilitation Assistant on a surgical floor. My position is to support the physiotherapist and the occupational therapist, so a lot of it is organizing equipment, wheelchair maintenance, making …
Last updated: Jun 1, 2021
I tested positive for COVID back in March 2020
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“I tested positive for COVID back in March 2020, and was hospitalized. It was quite scary. I was in the high acuity unit for five or six days, and then I got moved down to a medical floor for a couple of days. They almost intubated me, but luckily my …
Last updated: Jun 1, 2021
We keep the hospital running when it comes to heat, water, toilets, electricity, locks, and even cosmetically
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“A lot of people don’t think we’re high-risk or frontline. I disagree with that because we do go into what they call the ‘hot zones’. If something needs to be taken care of, then we have no other choice but to go in there and fix it. I kind of get hurt …
Last updated: Jun 1, 2021
I became a robot. I worked and came home. I did that for five months.
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"When COVID came so abruptly, there were many changes: staff changes, people leaving, people taking on other professions in clinical areas. Many housekeepers had left due to the fear of COVID. I told myself, ‘No one is going to do this, so I’m going to do …
Last updated: Jun 1, 2021
Mental Health Awareness Week – Colouring Contest
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May 3 to May 9 is Mental Health Awareness Week. In order to promote discussion and raise awareness, the HEU People with Disabilities Standing Committee is holding its third annual Mental Health Awareness Colouring Page. During Mental Health Awareness …
Last updated: Jun 1, 2021
I did something to save a life
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“I feel proud as a Medical Device Reprocessing Technician because we are the backbone of the OR. If we do not provide the correct surgical instruments and supplies that are sterilized and work properly, they are not able to do surgery. We feel like we …
Last updated: Jun 1, 2021
Update on the BC Health Care Occupational Health and Safety Society
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B.C.’s new provincial occupational health and safety organization continues to move forward, with the incorporation as a new non-profit society - the BC Health Care Occupational Health and Safety Society. This new organization will tackle high rates of …
Last updated: Jun 1, 2021
I love working with the patients, the nurses and doctors
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“I’m a Housekeeper, and since the beginning of the pandemic, I’ve been working in the Emergency Room (ER) at the hospital. On top of the daily duties that I have, like cleaning bathrooms, in the ER we’re called to do ‘droplet cleans’, meaning that we do …
Last updated: Jun 1, 2021
My job is very gratifying
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“As a Dispatch Supply Technician, I coordinate, lead and dispatch the activities for our Logistics Drivers to set up mobile blood clinics around the Lower Mainland, where people can donate their blood. The blood products are then supplied to hospitals …
Last updated: Jun 1, 2021
Why anti-Indigenous racism impacts all of us, and what you can do
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Dr. Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond joined HEU members for a telephone town hall on February 4, addressing Indigenous-specific racism in health care and her recent investigation findings. Hosted by HEU president Barb Nederpel, the one-hour town hall, which had …
Last updated: Dec 12, 2025