The President and CEO of Interior Health says she wants all front line staff across the health authority to know that their employer has their back.
Susan Brown says there are supports in place for all Interior Health staff if they need help.
“It is tiring, you’re right, and shifts can feel quite long when you are working in an intense environment. And of course, there are a lot of stresses outside of work on families right now too, so that’s really important to recognize,” Brown told NL News
“Staff have got issues just like all of us do that are outside of the work that maybe are actually quite stressful right now. Perhaps they have got young children at school or they may be living with elderly parents.”
Brown was responding to concerns from nurses in Kamloops who have told NL News that they feel like their employer in neglecting them as they continue to work on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. Concerns about a lack of PPE have also been raised by the BC Nurses Union, but Interior Health is refuting those concerns.
“We do have good supply within this health authority. We’re connected to the provincial supply chain. And we are regularly updating, based on the utilization and requirements at the site levels,” Karen Bloemink, the interim vice president of pandemic response at IH told media – a point also echoed by Brown during an interview with NL News.
The COVID-19 outbreak at Royal Inland Hospital is up to 105 cases as of Thursday afternoon, including 69 staff and 36 patients. Forty of those cases are active.
“The management team are on site seven days a week right now. They are being very present on the units. It is important that staff feel they can go to managers or directors,” Brown said. “Raising their issues is important so that they can be dealt with in a timely fashion.”
“It is important that they do reach out.”
Nurses have told NL News that the banging of pots and pans has long stopped, and the lawn signs at Royal Inland Hospital are soggy and damp now.
“People have forgotten about us. We feel very alone,” a nurse who did not want to be identified told NL News.
But Brown says she doesn’t think the support towards healthcare workers has diminished.
“It’s just coming in a different form maybe because winter has set in and people don’t want to be outside so much right now,” she noted. “I don’t think there’s any waning support for frontline workers, physicians, and volunteers and certainly as an employer we’re all in it together.”
“I see Interior Health as a team, and one of the main strengths is how we perform in a crisis and again we’re doing a great job and people need to know that.”
