Your Digest
Open board meeting highlights and recording
During yesterday’s open board meeting, we were reminded that what we do matters as attendees watched the inspiring video of stem cell recipient, Tom Wong, and then heard from him directly as he expressed his gratitude to donors and Canada’s Lifeline. Dr. Brian Postl, chair of the board recognized the recipients of three national awards: The Lifetime Achievement Award, Logan Boulet Award and the Schilly Award. Each honouree has made outstanding contributions in the areas of public health and in blood, plasma, stem cell or organ and tissue recruitment. CEO, Dr. Graham Sher, presented his mid-year report and we welcomed presentations from the public. If you were unable to watch live yesterday, you will be able to access the recording early next week; a link will be shared in Tuesday’s Your Digest.
Information pickets included inaccurate information
Information pickets were held on Thursday, Dec. 1 at three Canadian Blood Services locations (head office in Ottawa, Ont., Dartmouth, N.S., and Edmonton, Alta.). These pickets were organized by some external groups and were related to our recent agreement with Grifols to help increase plasma collection and have immunoglobulins made in Canada. To clarify the incorrect information being shared, we have posted a statement on our website to reiterate why we have made this agreement and what it means for patients in Canada who require immunoglobulins to live. The statement also provides links to a number of resources with more information on the work we are doing to ensure patients continue to have access to the medications they depend on.
Town hall Wednesday, Dec. 7: Call for questions
Our next live town hall event is coming up Wednesday, Dec. 7, from 1–2 p.m. ET. Guest panelists will be announced soon. Please submit questions in advance to communications@blood.ca with the subject line ‘TOWN HALL’ or use this anonymous form. You can also submit questions live during the event after joining with the meeting link in your Outlook invitation.
Anti-racism workshop recording now available
Systemic racism refers to the policies and processes of an organization or institution that result in a system that disadvantages Black, Indigenous and other racialized people. It often results in barriers to employment, justice, and social participation –– and within the health-care system, it can negatively impact access to care. Earlier this week, Osayi Ogieva, DEI manager, delivered the workshop Disrupting Systemic Interpersonal Racism, to provide employees with a deeper understanding of systemic racism and strategies to build an anti-racist workplace. In case you missed it, you can watch the recording here.
Question of the day
I want to celebrate the upcoming holidays with my colleagues and team, but I’m worried that I might unintentionally offend or leave someone out who doesn’t celebrate at this time of year. How can I observe the traditions that are meaningful to me, without being exclusionary?
The winter season is a time of year when many religious and secular holidays are observed and celebrated by people from diverse cultures, traditions, and faiths. Workplace holiday celebrations and festive decorations generally intend to spark joy and bring people together. However, traditional year-end workplace festivities or other widely accepted “norms” related to the winter holiday season can be understood or experienced by some employees as exclusionary.
As many of you may be making plans to celebrate some of the more dominant winter holidays, it is important to consider which behaviours, events or displays may leave some people feeling uncomfortable or excluded. We do not ask employees to keep their holidays or traditions separate from work, but rather, to increase their awareness of how their colleagues may celebrate and observe different holidays and celebrations.
To help support employees and leaders during this time, the DEI team has created a short guide with tips, considerations and strategies that can help create a more inclusive environment for all.
We hope you find this guide helpful, and that your most important takeaway is to navigate the winter holidays with respect, kindness, empathy and consideration for your teams, colleagues and neighbours.
