Daily COVID-19 digest

Reminder — live Q&A with Graham is tomorrow: Please join us Tuesday, June 9 at 1 p.m. ET for a live Q&A with our CEO. This week, Graham will be joined by special guest, Dr. Chantale Pambrun, Director for the Centre of Innovation to answer all your questions about how Canadian Blood Services is managing COVID-19 surveillance and staying on top of emerging developments. Graham will also be joined by Andrew Pateman, VP People Culture and Performance, to listen and speak with employees about how we as an organization are acknowledging the very real gaps we have at Canadian Blood Services with respect to diversity, equity and inclusion. Please see the outlook invite sent to you last week for the meeting link, details on how to participate on any device and to access the attendee help guide. We look forward to seeing you all there!

Stories from National Blood Donor Week: During National Blood Donor Week we are celebrating donors for their generosity and commitment and sharing the stories of the lives they have touched. After three uneventful pregnancies, Gurjinder never imagined she would need dozens of units of blood and plasma to survive the delivery of her fourth child. Her son’s arrival came with a rare and severe obstetric complication that caused major bleeding when caregivers tried to remove the placenta. Nearly twenty years later, Gurjinder remains grateful and is sharing her story broadly to inspire others to donate blood. Read and share Gurjinder’s story on your social channels using the hashtags #NBDW2020 and #CanadasLifeline to inspire your own community to donate blood. Stay tuned for more incredible stories all week long.

Delivering “psychological first aid” to healthcare frontline: It started with a routine call between our OTDT team and the international OTDT community, which includes doctors on the frontline. The call was to discuss the many COVID-19-related changes to organ and tissue transplants and how to prepare for an uncertain future. When the frontline teams spoke, it was clear they were struggling. “You could hear it in their voices, the impact of the ongoing stress they are dealing with as they provide critical care on the frontlines,” says Amber Appleby, Director of OTDT. That’s when Amber and her team decided to do something about it. They pulled together a team of professionals with a wide range of expertise in combating burnout, trauma and PTSD to record several webinar sessions which have been shared with global OTDT frontline healthcare community to help manage their stress. Learn more about this important initiative on Connect.

Question of the day: How are we actively listening to and engaging with the minority communities that we are trusted to represent and advocate for within Canada’s healthcare system?  

The recent violent deaths of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery, have rightfully surfaced issues of racism and inequity which profoundly impact black communities, racialized and ethnic minorities in the US and here in Canada. These events have led employees to bring forward the following important questions urging us to reflect and engage in dialogue around diversity, equity and inclusion in our own organization. I look forward to your questions on this important matter at tomorrow’s townhall.

While donor and employee diversity is a strategic priority for Canadian Blood Services, we acknowledge that we need to do significantly more work to realize our aspirations.

Last quarter we had initiated the DEI (Diversity Equity and Inclusion program) to build on our previous work in this space, by addressing systems, processes, policies, leadership expectations and providing leaders and employees with the education required.

Research into our donor base from a D&I lens has been completed as well as an examination of specific needs for patients from various ethnic communities.  Regrettably with the attention of the organization turned to deal with the challenges posed by COVID-19 we postponed some key activities and communications, while continuing others in the background.

As the leadership reflects on this today, we acknowledge that we can and should act to re-focus on this important file immediately.

Andrew Pateman, VP, People Culture and Performance

About the daily digest

This daily 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. Things are moving quickly, so you can expect to hear from us daily. No access to email? No problem — all this information and more can be found on blood.ca/employees from any device, no login required.

Click here to read past editions of the daily digest.

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