Posted by On September 11th we gave an important warning to Dr. Gfeller in a COVID – EMERGENCY letter: working in rotation and working on more than one unit/site.
We asked :
- That all employees take the N-95 leak test.
- That all employees working in a yellow or red zone have the N95 mask in addition to gloves, gown and visor.
- That N-95 masks be available in sufficient quantities at all times.
- that each health care worker be tested once a week.
AND
- that all currently existing positions that require shift rotation and/or presence on more than one unit or site be re-posted to a single shift and work unit.
All of these measures are vital as we continue to grapple with COVID.
The Human Resources response is unreal.
On the N-95 mask
Since N-95 is not required by the Ministry, the MUHC will not do anything more .
On staff movements on several units/sites
The MUHC has not abused its rights under the MINISTERIAL ORDERS and the MUHC has not moved employees from hot to cold areas …
This is not untrue but we had to remind Human Resources that we have had over 280 employees infected in all job titles and that the MUHC does not yet have the means to test all of its employees on a regular basis so… we are moving from shift to shift, unit to unit and site to site untested, possibly infected and even possibly asymptomatic people.
In other words, the MUHC has no idea of the health status of the employees they move, and we know that many patients and the 280 infected people have been infected in the workplace.
On rotating stations and/or on several units or sites
On this question the answer, strictly speaking, is inconceivable. Human Resources tells us that they have been instructed by the Ministry not to post any more rotational or multi-unit/site positions as this could contribute to the spread of the virus, but, for rotational and/or multi-unit/site positions that were assigned BEFORE the pandemic, these positions will remain as they are…
You think you’re dreaming…. If it’s not safe to walk employees over several shifts, units, sites with the new postings we should be told how this can be acceptable for positions created before the pandemic… It doesn’t make sense.
A radical and urgent shift
The MUHC management must urgently take a radical turn, as did the CISSS management in Laval. Here are the steps that have been taken and we are asking that the same measures be applied to the MUHC in several stages:
- all PAB and SSA positions (all sites) are being converted to full-time positions on a voluntary basis. No rotating positions and no positions on more than one work unit/site.
- for all job titles in categories 2 and 3, no rotational positions and all positions on a single unit/site
AND, there are three job postings
- for regular part-time positions TPR to take full-time positions in their unit
- for TPO positions – take full-time positions in a unit.
- for students who will graduate from the PAB accelerated training program – take the remaining full-time positions
- all subsequent postings will be on positions in fixed units with no rotation and on one site only
It is this stabilization of staff that is vital to limiting the spread of the virus within the MUHC.
The transformation of the full-time PAB and ASSS positions will allow the MUHC to achieve one of the goals it had set last year: to have at least 120% of staff per unit/service to ensure continuity of care while covering absences and leaves.
At the dawn of a possible second wave, the MUHC can’t cross its fingers and say they’re waiting for the Department to decide for them. It is the responsibility of MUHC management to ensure the health and safety of employees and patients.