Your Digest

Heart and Sole: the powerful story of a young heart recipient 

In November 2020, at the very young age of 16, Dylan Kalambay experienced heart failure. Over the next six months, the high school basketball star from Brampton, Ont., had open heart surgery, followed by a lifesaving heart transplant made possible by the generosity of an organ donor and their family. Incredibly, by the following September, he was back on the basketball court, chasing his dream of an NCAA Division 1 scholarship — an opportunity to play college basketball at the highest level in the United States. Dylan’s journey is the subject of the short film Heart and Sole, produced by Game Seven Media in association with Ridley College. Canadian Blood Services, on behalf of Canada’s organ and tissue donation community, is honoured to host the online premiere of Dylan’s story. As we recently recognized the 25th annual National Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Week, our awareness efforts continue. We encourage you to read more about Dylan on Connect, watch this short film and share it with family and friends.  

Health and safety at work is everyone’s responsibility

This week, May 1–7, is Safety and Health Week in Canada. It reminds us of the importance of preventing injury and illness in the workplace, at home and in the community. Canadian Blood Services is committed to the health and safety of its employees, and our occupational health and safety program is active throughout the year. Our 34 joint health and safety committees, in 47 sites, complete approximately 560 proactive workplace safety inspections every year. However, when it comes to safety, we can all play a role using our own internal responsibility system. We encourage all employees to pause and reflect on their own health and safety practices, as well as the practices of those around them, during Safety and Health Week. Visit Connect to find out more about staying safe and healthy at work. 

Removal of 14-day travel deferral for blood and plasma donation approved     

A few weeks ago, we shared that Health Canada received our request to remove the 14-day travel deferral for donors who traveled outside of Canada. We are pleased to announce that Health Canada has quickly approved this request and effective May 9, the deferral for travel outside of Canada as it relates to COVID-19 will be removed from the Donor Selection Criteria Manual (DSCM). We are moving swiftly to remove the deferral language from our website, posters at our donor events, and all donor communication in the coming days.  

Mental Health Week events on this week — May 2–8   

As we celebrate Mental Health Week, employees are invited to participate in any of the daily sessions scheduled throughout the next few days. We've lined up ways you can get involved, find support and learn new skills. Check out the details here or click on our well-being calendar on Connect anytime. If you would like to attend one of these sessions, please discuss with your supervisor whether your attendance can be accommodated during your scheduled shift. As well, please know that recordings will be made available following the sessions. 

Town Hall recording now available / Feedback requested  

You can now access the recording of the April 28 Town Hall on our employee portal or listen to the podcast on Connect on the Go. We will continue to provide responses to outstanding questions in future installments of Your Digest. You can submit a question anytime through the feedback form or by sending an email to communications@blood.ca. 

To improve upon future live events with our CEO, we want to know what you thought of the April town hall. Our goal is to make these events as valuable and accessible as possible for employees; your insights are valued. Please take a moment to provide us with your views by completing this brief survey (three minutes) by Friday, May 6 at 5 p.m. ET. Responses are completely anonymous. 

Question of the day:

I haven’t seen the employee experience and brand survey results. Where can I find them?

Nearly 2,500 employees took time to provide valuable insights about their employee experiences and our brand. The results of our joint employee experience and brand health surveys were shared with all employees on April 5 and can be found on the Employee Surveys page on Connect. Leaders received local and organization-wide results and were encouraged to share these results with their teams. Your voices have been heard and we’re grateful for your authentic and honest feedback. Our next steps include developing corporate, divisional and departmental action plans, and informing employees about those action plans and initiatives. Work is currently underway in a number of areas highlighted through the survey results, including: 

• Leadership 
• Union inclusion 
• Workload management 
• Relationships and teamwork 
• Fundamentals of employment 
• Employee participation and voice 
• Psychological safety and inclusion 
• Multi-product approach 

If you would like more information on the results, please connect with your manager or email employee.surveys@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 to remind us that what we do matters. This information can be found on blood.ca/employees from any device, no login required.

Read past editions of your digest.

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