November is National Home Care Month!
SEIU-West would like to celebrate all our valued Home Care members who work really hard to ensure that their clients are well taken care of every day. 
With an aging population and crowded hospitals, adequate home care is now a vital health care service.
Home care provides assistance which allows people to continue to live safely and independently in their homes; and recover from medical procedures at home.
Home care requires trust.
Health care providers who work in home care assist people with their most intimate care requirements including but not limited to: meal preparation, personal grooming, assisting with medications, and observation or ongoing assessment.
Unfortunately, stagnant wages, a lack of guaranteed hours and dangerous workloads in the sector have led people to leave for other jobs.
Add to that the rising cost of education and it makes it difficult to attract new people.
To all our SEIU-West Home Care Health Care Providers, we thank you for all you do particularly in light of the limited resources you have.
Tell the government to be fair to those who care; as our elected leaders they need to do more to ensure that people get the home care services they need. Our public health care sector needs to be fully funded and staffed to meet the needs of Saskatchewan’s growing population. Send your letter today at EndUnderstaffing.ca.
November 20 is Universal Children’s Day!
This Universal Children’s day is extra special because it marks the 30th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. This legal framework states that children are not just objects who belong to their parents and for whom decisions are made, or adults in training. Rather, they are human beings and individuals with their own rights. Also children must be allowed to grow, learn, play, develop and flourish with dignity.
SEIU-West celebrates all children because we are fighting for their future.
As adults who are their mentors and guides, we need to ask ourselves how much have we invested in their future? What are we doing to safeguard a livable planet for them? What are we doing to ensure that when they grow up they would be guaranteed a livable wage and safe working conditions?
It’s our job to hold ourselves and the government accountable now to secure our children’s future.
Let’s promote international togetherness, awareness among children worldwide, and improving children's welfare.
Check out this inspiring video:
Millions of Canadians struggle daily with addiction.
Developing an addiction is not a character flaw, nor is it a sign of weakness. Addiction to certain substances can actually cause changes to the brain which might make sobriety seem impossible. It takes more than willpower to overcome addiction. With the right treatment and support, recovery is possible.
The dedication and hard work of SEIU-West members in the Health Care and the Community-Based Organization sectors help make it possible for people struggling with addiction to take that little step forward every day. 
One such individual is Justin, a maintenance worker, at the Métis Addictions Council of Saskatchewan (MACSI) in Prince Albert. Read more about his role as a part of the Community Based Organization (CBO) sector team.
This National Addictions Awareness Week (NAAW), SEIU-West would like to bring attention to the millions who struggle with addiction every day.
- Addiction affects all walks of life
- Recovery is achievable and possible
- Choose your words wisely – words matter
- The cost affects us all
Call Healthline at 811 for professional health or mental health and addictions advice, education and support. It’s free confidential and open 24/7.
For more information visit: Canadian Center on Substance Use and Abuse and 211 Saskatchewan.
Join us as we celebrate November 6 – Community Worker Appreciation Day. Many SEIU-West members work in the Community-Based (CBO) Sector; they work in residential/group home settings and provide services for the vulnerable, they assist with mobile crisis services, they provide day programs for the disabled and support their independent living, they work in child care programs, and they engage with clients in addictions counseling /treatment programs. 
It’s important to recognize this group whose work is crucial to the well-being of communities across the province. The work of CBO’s is especially vital today because they go to great lengths to cushion the effects of government cuts and understaffing, often at great personal cost.
In recognition of their valued work, SEIU-West invites you to participate in the Community Worker Appreciation Day Contest! Complete this word search for your chance to win some awesome prizes:
- Tickets to the Festival of Trees
- Tickets to the Stand! Movie
- A variety of gift passes to movies and restaurants
Email [email protected] with your answer by November 13, and you’ll be entered to win!
SEIU-West is thrilled to celebrate the hardworking MRTs of our health care team.
You may have met a MRT during procedures they perform like angiograms (usually of the brain), special IV line insertions (like PICC’s), Ports, and Hickman lines, feeding tube placements, and biopsies, to name a few. MRTs are there to explain these procedures to patients and often start IVs. MRTs also assist during procedures by providing patient care, driving the x-ray equipment to guide the doctors, and scrubbing in with doctors to assist with the procedure. Cleanup and re-prep is an important aspect of their day as well as there are often many procedures and new challenges each day.
The work of an MRT is crucial for our health care system as MRTs perform imaging and radiation-related therapy, which is so often needed by patients. MRTs deliver safe and professional care by relying on the skills and experiences they’ve gained in their frontline work.
In recognition of their valued work, SEIU-West invites you to participate in the MRT Week Contest! Complete this crossword for your chance to win some awesome prizes:
- Tickets to the Festival of Trees
- Tickets to the Stand! Movie
- A variety of gift passes to movies and restaurants
Email [email protected] with your answer by November 13, and you’ll be entered to win!
Read the latest editorial written by President Barb Cape in recognition of Health Care Providers Week - and don't forget to celebrate this week! You can request funding for your Unit's celebration at this link.
As we celebrate Health Care Providers Week, let’s take the opportunity to pause and think about the incredible amount of work that health care providers do every day across a myriad of classifications for their patients, clients and residents.
This dedicated and caring team of professionals includes technologists with specialized skills to frontline nursing staff who provide direct hands-on care and technical expertise; administrative professionals who manage scheduling, billing, and the ‘behind the scenes’ ebb and flow of work; our environmental services workers who provide a clean, safe and healthy place for our patients, clients, and residents to recover; our food and dietary services staff who ensure proper nutrition; our medical device reprocessing staff who ensure equipment and tools are sterilized; our facility and trades people who manage the infrastructure needs and challenges of our new and aging buildings; and our security officers who keep a watchful eye to ensure everyone in and around the buildings are safe.
They all play a vital role in the provision of health care services. SEIU-West invites you to celebrate every person on the health care team. All members of the team bring value and skill to keeping our public health care system running. This is truly the crown jewel of our provincial public service system as it reaches into so many aspects of our lives.
Unfortunately, our system has been understaffed for far too long.
This chronic understaffing has led to people not choosing health care as a career because of the stagnant wages, which leaves those left in the system to do more with less people – putting them at risk both physically and emotionally.
We are encouraged by the commitment to build new facilities. However, we need people to provide the services that are being offered within these new buildings.
You deserve quality public health care services. We are calling on you, members of the public, to help protect your public health care system and the people who provide the services by telling the government to put care first – end understaffing.
Send your letter of support today; visit EndUnderstaffing.ca.
Please join SEIU-West in celebrating health care providers and the incredible skill and dedication they bring to work every day.
Barbara Cape
President, SEIU-West
In addition to Education Week this week, SEIU-West is proud to recognize and celebrate Facilities and Engineering Week!
The work of our members in Facilities and Engineering is crucial to the success of the health care team and positive outcomes for those they care for. We need heating, water and lighting systems to be well-organized and operational; this is required to support quality health care environments that patients, residents, visitors and staff rely on. The SEIU-West members who make up the Facilities and Engineering department ensure our health care environments are safe, comfortable, and efficient.
Members who work in Facilities and Engineering work in a variety of fields including: Building and Energy Maintenance, Construction, Waste Management, Groundskeeping and Landscaping, and Clinical and Plant Engineering.
SEIU-West Facilities and Engineering workers are a vital part of efficient health care work environments – none of us could successfully complete our jobs without them! So in honor of our members who work in Facilities and Engineering, we are holding a contest and you can nominate a member of the Facilities and Engineering team who really makes a difference in your workplace. It could be their positive attitude, their awesome work, or the way they support the whole health care team.
Please send in your nominations, along with a sentence or two as to why they deserve to win to [email protected] by October 27, 2019. Your nominee could win one of several great prizes!
Put Kids First: By Barbara Cape, President of SEIU-West
As the school year continues on, we have an opportunity to celebrate Education Week (October 20 – 26. 2019) and to put kids first. But this is no mere platitude, rather a call to recognize the value of education and the impact on our province.
Saskatchewan has undergone some dramatic changes in the past ten years. Our provincial government boasts an increase in population and a strong economy. Our Premier publicly states that he is standing up for Saskatchewan. We need to engage on this undertaking with him – is he really standing up for our younger generation? Is he standing up for education?
We lost approximately 350 Education Assistant jobs during the boom years. This was followed up by the 2017-18 budget, where the education sector experienced deep cuts to the tune of 54 million dollars; in the 2018-19 budget funding was restored but only to the extent of 30 million dollars. In our current budget year school operating grants were reduced by 31.5 million dollars. This leaves us struggling at significantly reduced budget levels. The real world impact of those funding cuts has been larger classroom sizes; reduced services in maintenance and infrastructure; further cuts to all staff who work as Librarian and Education Assistants, Administrative Assistants, and Maintenance, among others. When classroom sizes balloon and resources are stripped, it is the students who suffer. With a growing population, the program cuts for English as an Additional Language and supports for students with special needs are particularly concerning…our kids need our support!
Your voices and collective wisdom can make the difference in the decision of the government to ensure that we have more staff: Teachers, Education Assistants, Maintenance, Administrative and Library Assistants. Our province depends on the education that we can provide: high quality education is a silver bullet that can promote prosperity and progress for our future society.
The time is now – during Education Week – reach out to your MLA and ask them to put kids first – end understaffing. Our children deserve a safe, comfortable and well supported learning environment.
SEIU-West members who work as Pharmacy Technicians are a vital part of our public health care team; they prepare, check and distribute medications and pharmacy supplies to ensure people are safely supplied their prescribed medications or over the counter medicines. They also help share relevant patient information with other health care professionals when requested.
Pharmacy Technicians assist Pharmacists, patients, residents and clients requiring medications which in turn, makes our communities healthier places to live and work. Thank you Pharmacy Technicians for your valuable work!
To celebrate Pharmacy Technician Day, SEIU-West asks that you to participate in the Pharmacy Technician Day Contest!
With the election around the corner, Pharmacare is a big election issue. As many health care providers would agree, it is essential for people to be able to access their prescribed medications. However, without a universal drug plan, many people cannot afford their medications and end up skipping or splitting their medications. This leads to worsened health and often, with more people in the emergency room. So in recognition of the importance of Pharmacy Technicians and the work they do to provide prescribed medications, tell us: why is Pharmacare important to you? Email your answers to [email protected] by October 22, 2019 for your chance to win a great prize!