Your Digest
Continuing the conversation around mental well-being
With a new year upon us, we want to continue the conversation around mental health and the importance of taking care of ourselves and each other. January is typically a time when we encourage employees to participate in mental health awareness initiatives and this year, we are launching a new series of employee-led conversations: Continuing the Conversation – Making All the Difference in Supporting our Mental Health All Year Long. Because talking about our mental health is not just for one month of the year; it can continue all year long with the support of each other.
We invite you to register for all three employee led conversations. The first session, Continuing the Conversation: Supporting Yourself, takes place Jan. 24, 11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. ET. A panel of employees will share their journeys of awareness, action and acceptance. For those unable to join, the session will be recorded and available on Connect. The conversation will continue with two more sessions in May and October. Stay tuned to Your Digest for more details on these sessions.
New ferritin testing program may help prevent low iron stores in donors
This month, Canadian Blood Services is taking steps to help donors manage their iron stores with a new ferritin testing program. The intent is to enhance the donor experience by informing affected donors of their results so they can take proactive action to prevent low iron. If ferritin is low, it reliably indicates low iron stores and is a good predictor of who may develop anemia (low hemoglobin). Donors with low levels of ferritin will be asked to pause whole blood donation for six months to allow iron stores to recover. The first phase of this program will test selective donors registered as female, because they have a higher chance of having low iron. Visit Connect for more details.
Knowing what to do if you suspect a privacy incident
All employees should know how to spot, stop and report a suspected privacy incident. Leading up to Data Privacy Day on Jan. 28, our health law, ethics & privacy team have created a poster to bring awareness to the importance of safeguarding personal information. Employees can test their knowledge with this short and fun quiz (open from Jan. 13–28) for a chance to win branded swag valued at $25! Full contest rules found here. Data Privacy Day is recognized internationally to empower people and businesses to respect privacy and build trust. Take some time to reflect on why privacy matters, for the important work of maintaining Canada’s Lifeline, but also in your own lives.
Congratulations to Jean-Paul Bédard on his upcoming retirement
This week, after 15 years of executive leadership, Jean-Paul (JP) Bédard announced his retirement. His last day will be May 31, 2023. JP is the former vice president of public affairs, and for the past five years has led significant growth and expansion as VP of plasma operations. There is much to celebrate in JP's Canadian Blood Services' tenure and you can read more about his contributions on Connect.
Question of the day
My team is still confused about our agreement with Grifols and what it means for Canadian Blood Services. Where can I send them if they have questions?
We encourage employees who want to learn more to join our Yammer group, Plasma for immunoglobulins.
This new online community offers employees easy access to information and resources all in one place. Learn more about what we're doing to improve Canada's supply of immunoglobulins, including our agreement with Grifols. Most importantly, this is a safe space for employees to ask questions. There's no such thing as a silly question, so please share your questions and we’ll get back to you as quickly as we can.
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