The Ministry of Health, with its provincial budget, has set new targets for the Cypress Health Region to reduce costs for overtime, sick time, and workers compensation.

The Cypress Health Region has been tasked with reducing its annual budget for the 2010/11 fiscal year by the following percentages:

    - Percentage reduction of region overtime (hours per FTE) by 8%

    - Percentage reduction of region sick time (hours per FTE) by 3%

    - Percentage reduction of workers' compensation (claims and days) by 10%

C.H.E.S.S. - Cypress Health Employee Staffing Strategies

The Cypress Health Region will create strategies to transform financial and staffing resources back into care, having the right people providing the right service at the right time. The region needs to make system changes to achieve this goal.  Commitment is required from everyone in the region including the board, managers, employees, unions, and physicians.  Cypress Health strategies and resources are taking on a new look (CHESS) with an energetic approach to support our commitment to enhance workplace excellence: identify opportunities, challenges, and solutions to achieve our targets!

• CHESS Strategies for 2010/11 (.pdf)
• Ability Strategy Information Sheet - May 17, 2010 (.pdf)
• Limiting the Hiring of Retirees Information Sheet - May 20, 2010 (.pdf)
• Attendance Support Plan Information Sheet - May 25, 2010 (.pdf)
• Safe Work Values Information Sheet- May 27, 2010 (.pdf)
• Wellness and Work Information Sheet- May 31, 2010 (.pdf)
• CHESS Frequently Asked Questions - June 2, 2010 (.pdf)
• Workplace Safety Information Sheet - June 7, 2010 (.pdf)
• Where We Stand - June 30, 2010 (.pdf)

A variety of strategies and projects have been developed by Cypress Health to respond to the Ministry of Health's targets for the region.  These include:

ATTENDANCE SUPPORT

• Attendance Management Policies - Aim to reduce sick time while supporting managers to deal with culpable and non-culpable absenteeism
• Ability Notes - Introduction of medical/behavior ability in the workplace – no more “sick notes” - change to “ability notes”
• Employee Wellness - Promote employee attendance while creating an environment conducive to employee wellness
• Functional Capacity Evaluations - Determine objective medical abilities
• Identified Duties - Assist employee’s return to the workplace on their next scheduled shift, matching abilities to duties
• Leave of Absence Follow-up - Manager to phone/follow-up with employees
• Communications - More transparency and visual communication

SCHEDULING PROCESSES

• Staff Schedules - Implement strategies to identify overtime drivers and reduce overtime
• Employee Fatigue - Aim to restrict offering premium pay to employees who are off on illness
• Collective Agreement Language - Proper coding, banking of hours, charge pay
• Change Management - Identity areas of high overtime use and support change in workplace culture
• Hiring of Retirees - Strong succession plan through hiring practices
• Manager Meetings - To develop facility/department specific plans

WORKPLACE SAFETY

• Ability Management Policies - Supporting injury prevention and reduction in WCB claims and days lost
• Injury Report Line - Timely return to work following an injury
• Job Task Analysis - Assessing the risks within each job and reducing the risks
• Incident Reports/OH&S Committee Training - Training committees to investigate workplace injuries and recommend/implement strategies to reduce incidents
• Stop the Line - If you see an unsafe act, you will stop the person and report

Information and updates will be regularly posted to this webpage as they are developed and implemented by the Cypress Health Region.