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Live townhall with our CEO — new date and time:

Yesterday, employees received an email from our CEO, Dr. Graham Sher advising that the townhall originally scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 20 has been moved up to Monday, Jan. 18 at 12:00 p.m. ET. Employees are feeling immense pressures as governments continue to strengthen restrictions to curb the spread of COVID-19. We know you have questions about how increasing restrictions impact your work, your safety and the sustainability of our operations. We may not have all the answers, but we feel it is important to address them as quickly as possible. 

Joining Graham will be co-acting vice-presidents of medical affairs and innovation: Dr. Chantale Pambrun, director of the Centre for Innovation and Dr. Tanya Petraszko, director of medical services and hospital relations. Their expertise will help inform questions you may have around vaccines, variants of COVID-19 and research such as the convalescent plasma trial. Participate live by clicking the meeting link in your updated Outlook invite. If you are unable to join us, a recording of the event will be made available on blood.ca/employees. We look forward to seeing you there.

An important EMT announcement: Late last year, it was announced that Pauline Port, our chief financial officer and vice-president, corporate services, would be retiring in the spring of 2021. Since her announcement, Pauline and the executive management team (EMT) have agreed that a transition of this magnitude in the midst of a global pandemic is not ideal. As Pauline describes it: “When I originally signaled my intent to retire, we were not in this situation. I still have a lot of energy for the organization and care deeply for the mission. It would be far better to transition when our operations more closely resemble our pre-pandemic normalcy. If that means postponing retirement, I’m happy to do that.” It’s with gratitude and respect that EMT will continue working with Pauline through this challenging chapter.

Celebrating the return of hockey: The kickoff of the 2021 NHL season this week comes not only as a much-welcomed distraction for hockey fans — but as a reminder about the importance of nation-building and community engagement. We are privileged to have partners like Hockey Gives Blood and Canada Life who are helping to harness the goodwill of the hockey community to make a positive difference for individuals across Canada.  Learn more about the new Canada Life-sponsored Hockey Gives Blood Player Ambassador Program, and meet some local hockey heroes-in-the-making who are helping to make a lifesaving difference for patients at blood.ca/HGB.

Boosting blood donations from east to west with Sirens for Life: First responders often see the need for blood first-hand in their day-to-day duties and every year they team up across the country to donate blood for patients in need. The Sirens for Life challenge is a friendly competition among first responders to see which team can bring in the most blood donations. The campaign typically runs at least once a year in regions across the country. During the campaigns, Canadian Blood Services invites new and returning donors to join emergency workers by rolling up their sleeves to give blood, help boost our national blood supply and enjoy some friendly competition. Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Alberta first responders are answering the call this January. Read more on Connect.

Question of the day: Are there certain requirements in administrative areas that must be met before I can remove my mask at my workspace when I am on-site for business need?

An employee may remove their mask in an administrative environment if they are at an individual workstation provided this space is their own to use and is not shared by anyone else.

Cubicles with wall heights on all three sides that are at or above 55” are sufficient as seated barriers to remove your mask when you are working alone at your personally assigned cubicle.

Cubicles with wall heights on all three sides that are at or above 70” are sufficient to remove your mask when you are alone in your personally assigned cubicle at a standing height (i.e using a sit stand). Masks must be put back on whenever another person comes to your cubicle and when individuals move about spaces.

For more information on our PPE requirements, please visit blood.ca/employees/ppe

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About your digest

This digest will highlight the latest policy and employee support measures, resources to help you manage our new reality and original content like articles and videos to remind us that what we do matters.  No access to email? No problem — all this information and more can be found on blood.ca/employees from any device, no login required.    

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