Flu season starts next week
The official start of the flu season begins Monday, December 2. As of this date VCH staff, physicians, volunteers and contractors who have not had their flu shot are required to wear a mask when in a patient care area (i.e. anywhere accessible to the public) as outlined in the Influenza Control Policy. Please note that the influenza control policy applies to all VCH owned/operated sites and health care facilities that serve and treat patients, clients and residents. This includes hospitals, clinics, community health care centres and programs, long-term residential care facilities, and other facilities/programs that provide care.
Employee Checklist
- If you have not been vaccinated there is still opportunity to do so. You can receive your flu shot at your local pharmacy, physician’s office, from a peer nurse immunizer or staff flu clinics at select sites. Please check our VCH flu locator for a location near you: flushotschedule.ca/. Additional immunization clinics have been scheduled at LGH, VGH and Richmond Hospital up to December 6 – don’t miss out! If you wait until after Dec. 2 to get vaccinated, you will be required to wear a mask at work until you have received your shot.
- If you have been vaccinated but have not self-reported your immunization using the online self-reporting form, please do so at your earliest convenience and prior to December 2nd:
https://influenzareporting.phsa.ca/ - When submitting the influenza self-reporting form, please ensure you tick the Health Authority you are employed by (VCH) not the HA location you work at. It is required you check “VCH” to ensure you are captured on the VCH influenza reports. If you didn’t check ‘VCH’ the first time, please complete the reporting form again.
Remember, regardless of where you work and whether you provide direct care, each flu shot and self-report counts and helps protect our patients/clients/residents.
- If you are not vaccinated for influenza by December 02, 2013, you will be required to wear a mask. Please check with your manager to find out where you can obtain a mask and bring one home with you on your last shift before December 2nd –as staff must wear a mask when they enter and leave VCH owned/operated sites where care is being provided. This includes hospital and other facility lobbies, hallways, elevators and anywhere else accessible to the public. If you have any questions, please consult with your manager.
Visitors are included
Also beginning December 2, 2013, all visitors to any VCH and PHC care site (such as hospitals and long-term care facilities) will be asked to wear a mask if they have not had their flu shot. Masks will be available at nursing stations, outpatient reception desks and/or the main entrances of our facilities. Flu shots for visitors are free and people planning to visit loved ones in a health care facility or who will take family members to outpatient appointments are also eligible for a free flu shot. Much like the hand hygiene, the policy will use the “honour system”; it is hoped that visitors will want to protect their loved ones and will get the shot or wear a mask. Information about the visitor policy has been communicated to the public via posters at our facilities, posted on www.vch.ca, on VCH’s social media channels and in the media.
Questions? Please email VCHHCWFluPrevention@vch.ca.
Nina Muzur
Hello Lori.
I completely understand your concern and it is one we always take into consideration when planning how to send communication to staff. I can assure you that VCH only uses Canada Post when it involves an important initiative such as patient safety and to ensure employees receive the communication. To do a pay insert, it needs to apply to everyone and in this case we had a need to only communicate with those who did not receive their flu shot or self-report. And posting this information publicly on unit is not acceptable as employees’ immunization status is considered private information.
We therefore decided to send letters as this is an important provincial initative linked to patient care and having our staff immunized helps protect patients, clients and residents from a potentially fatal influenza. And after the letter our compliance rates doubled which indicates the positive outcome of the mail out. Thank you for raising this and I hope you feel better knowing that we carefully consider our communication options and rarely use canada post.
Lori
While I am a great proponent of all kinds of prevention, including flu shots; I am not a proponent of money wasting in our health care system. This last week I received a letter in the mail from the office or our Chief Medical Health Officer, reminding me to get the flu shot, which I had already got and posted on line. I’m assuming it was sent to all VCH and Providence employees rather than to me individually. There are about 13,000 full time and part time staff in VCH and another 6,000 in Providence. (This excludes physicians, researchers, casual employees and volunteers). I believe postage for standard lettermail is now $.63 within Canada. That’sover $11,000 in postage if it only goes to those employees. I’m guessing there was also some manual work involved as well which also increases the price. Would it not have been possible if it was felt that everyone needed an individual letter, to put it in with the pay stubs? Or post it on the wall in each department and have every employee sign somewhere that they read it?
We work hard at penny pinching to get the infirm elderly out of the ED in a rapid pace to meet P4P, but it would seem that in other areas we’re quite happy to spend the money. Let’s put our money where it is most needed; which is with our patients.