Annual Report 2024 – 2025 Progress

PROGRESS

The strength of our organization is in making progress by bringing healthcare organizations together and agreeing on occupational health and safety initiatives. Established in 2021 and operational by 2022, SWITCH BC was founded on collaborative decision-making. While our bylaws set out a process for voting where the directors are unable to reach consensus, to date that process has not been necessary.

In the third year of our work, I want to pay tribute to the conviction of our board – representatives of employers, bargaining associations and Doctors of BC, the Ministry of Health, and WorkSafeBC – that by working together to identify key issues of common importance, and by demonstrating a determination to listen to those we aim to serve as programs and services are developed, we make lasting progress together.

At present, our four initial strategic priorities are the creation of the OHS Resource Centre, with infrastructure to support JOHS committees; a portal for workplace health and safety for community physicians and their staff; a refreshed Provincial Violence Prevention Curriculum; and a model for monitoring, evaluating, and reporting on the psychological health and safety of health workers. More information on these initiatives can be found in this report and on our website.

I would be remiss if I did not, on behalf of the board, express our appreciation to the members of the Technical Advisory Committee, and the many health care workers, who have given their time and expertise to support these initiatives – and also express our thanks to our SWITCH BC staff whose commitment and enthusiasm has been impressive.

Going forward, the board will continue to support the fundamentals of the business lines we are engaged in. We will review investment that builds on our existing work in our second, three-year plan, from 2025 through 2028, giving thought to MSI prevention, as well as how to contribute effectively to improvements in data development and data sharing that enhances focus on worker health and safety.

Finally, I want to express our thanks to former Health Minister Hon. Adrian Dix for his support for SWITCH BC and its work and express our thanks to current Health Minister Hon. Josie Osborne, with whom the CEO and I met recently, for continuing that commitment.

Roberta Ellis
SWITCH BC, Board Chair