Your digest

Season of Giving launches with a family’s story of thanks
Our Season of Giving campaign launches today, highlighting exceptional people with heartwarming, courageous and grateful stories that show the impact of Canada’s Lifeline. Stories like that of Hunter Dauphinee, a 13-year-old cancer patient from Nova Scotia who has received multiple blood products during his treatment. Hunter and his family are so thankful for the many blood donors who help patients like him every day. This campaign urges people to donate blood during this traditional time of giving. While it can be challenging to find time for appointments in this busy social season, the need for blood never takes a day off. Our employees, donors and volunteers remain vital to the national blood supply. Read more about Hunter on blood.ca/stories. 

Explore your career development possibilities
Employees looking to take charge of their careers and explore their potential within the organization now have access to new career development resources: our new career development toolkit and workbook. The self-directed toolkit is meant to help employees discover their strengths and preferences, identify potential gaps in their knowledge or training and map out a plan of action for growing their skills and qualifications. It also provides a framework for an employee to engage in continuous development conversations with their manager or supervisor. Learn more about how you can use these resources to boost your skills on Connect.   

New Western Canada facility in Calgary starts shipping and receiving PPRP
Last month, the Calgary operations site (CAO) loaded and shipped its first plasma protein and related products (PPRP) to several of our Western Canada sites, marking an exciting time for everyone involved in this organizational change. The new facility, with its temperature controlled and monitored warehouse and extra-large walk-in refrigerators, has allowed CAO to house the products and distribute to the Western sites, reducing the travel time and cost of shipments. The project is a vital part of the National Facilities Redevelopment Program, an organization-wide initiative allowing Canadian Blood Services to re-design its business strategies. Becoming more cost-effective and efficient ― while providing hospitals and patients with the right product, at the right place and at the right time ― is a key priority. Read more about the project and see photos of the new facility on Connect.  

New vaccination policy for on-site visitors
To protect the health and safety of our employees, we have implemented a new policy which requires all visitors to Canadian Blood Services sites to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. As of November 22, 2021, visitors are required to provide their Canadian Blood Services employee liaison (applicable director or designate) or those managing site entrances with:  

• Proof of COVID-19 vaccination upon arrival, and/or;  

• A signed letter acknowledging that all representatives from their party are fully vaccinated.  

The employee liaising directly with a visitor is required to provide guidance to the visitor to ensure they follow and comply with all COVID-19 safety measures as appropriate when visiting Canadian Blood Services sites. Read further details on the new policy on the COVID-19 employee portal.   

Honouring Canada’s Lifeline is on Monday — a special message from Andrew Phung
The countdown is on to our Honouring Canada’s Lifeline event! Employees are invited to join the virtual event on Monday, Nov. 29 at 8 p.m. EST. It will be hosted by Andrew Phung, an award-winning actor and star on CBC’s Kim’s Convenience. Employees are not required to attend, but you are all welcome and encouraged to join the celebration. Andrew has a special message to the team at Canadian Blood Services that you can watch here. The event recording will also be available to watch on blood.ca starting in December. Check out this sneak peek of the event if you missed it earlier.  

Question of the day: What is the impact, if any, on staff retention as a result of the mandatory vaccine policy?
We thank all employees who have helped us on our journey to become a fully vaccinated workplace. We acknowledge that employees may be wondering now about the impact on our workforce. As of today, 37 employees were or will be required to leave the organization as a result of their decision to remain unvaccinated. Some employees asked to be exempted from the vaccine requirement on medical or human rights grounds. No exemptions have been granted and six requests are still being reviewed. Read our final COVID-19 vaccination policy update on Connect. 

 

About Your Digest

This digest highlights the latest policy and employee support measures, resources to help you manage our new reality and original content to remind us that what we do matters. This information can be found on blood.ca/employees from any device, no login required.

Click here to read past editions of your digest. 

Have questions? Check out blood.ca/employees or email us at communications@blood.ca