Your digest

In the blink of an eye, a young blood donor became a patient in need

Many people start donating blood because of a loved one whose life was saved by it. But donor Laura Brougham had never even met a person who had needed blood before — at least, not to her knowledge. Then, not long after her ninth blood donation, she suddenly found herself on the receiving end. After an unexpected diagnosis at age 24 of osteoblastoma, a rare bone-forming tumor, Laura underwent emergency surgery and received multiple blood transfusions. “My emergency surgery brought home for me how anyone can be a blood recipient,” says Laura. Now, two years after her surgery, Laura’s health crisis has only intensified her commitment to blood donation. In fact, she made her first post-recovery blood donation in June 2020 and has made six more donations since then. Read Laura’s inspiring story of recovery and generosity at blood.ca/stories.

A life beyond sickle cell disease, thanks to a stem cell donor

Twenty-three-year-old Ufuoma Muwhen has been living with sickle cell disease since she was a young child. Both of her parents and her sisters are carriers of the sickle cell trait and her maternal aunt in Nigeria died from the disease at a young age. In fact, Ufuoma’s earliest memory is associated with sickle cell crises: “I always loved swimming and waterparks … [but] I remember that I had to stop swimming lessons because I would get sick.” Over time, Ufuoma’s treatment regime evolved and she began receiving blood transfusions at least once a year to replenish her hemoglobin level. Although this treatment appeared to be working, her condition was still deteriorating — until her doctors presented her with another option when she was 17 years old: a stem cell transplant. Fortunately, Ufuoma’s younger sister was a 100 per cent match. Now, five years post-transplant, Ufuoma is thriving and has launched her own non-profit organization dedicated to creating a support system for individuals and families affected by sickle cell disease. Read about Ufuoma’s journey to health and advocacy at blood.ca/stories.

Reminder to book your vacation time before Mar. 31

Booking vacation time is not only important for your mental well-being, but also for our financial stability as a not-for-profit organization. That’s why all employees should take their well-deserved vacation for this year, prior to Mar. 31, 2022. Employees and their managers are encouraged to have open and honest conversations about workloads and competing priorities and work together to make every reasonable effort to book vacation time as per the updated vacation carry-over policy. There are circumstances that exist where an employee may not be able to use all accrued vacation before the end of the fiscal year, and provisions do exist for employees to carry over up to two weeks into the next fiscal year. However, the latest updates to the non-union vacation policy require employees to obtain their director’s approval if they wish to carry over more than one week. If you think vacation carry-over may apply to you, please speak with your manager or supervisor as soon as possible. If you have questions about booking vacation time, please reach out to your people, culture and performance business partner.

Question of the day: My vaccination status changed recently. How do I ensure this change is captured to comply with the vaccination policy?

It’s important to remember that as you move through the process to become fully vaccinated, you will need to keep your status updated.

To update your status, you can go into the app on meda.blood.ca and make the updates directly. If you have exhausted all means to access meda.blood.ca to enter your status, a fillable form can be downloaded from Connect, either filled in online or printed and filled in. This form can then be emailed to ehs@blood.ca or faxed to 613-260-4020 for entry. 

Should you have questions or need support to update your vaccination status in MEDA, please discuss with your manager or send an email to communications@blood.ca.

About your digest

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