Environmental services staff do essential work to keep our hospitals, care homes and clinics clean, and they have been critical throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, so we’re thrilled to officially welcome them into the Providence family this fall.
As Providence, we value the relationships we have built with our environmental services (EVS) staff over the years. Their essential work to keep our hospitals, care homes and clinics clean has been critical throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. So we are excited to announce that on October 14, 2022, PHC will welcome more than 300 workers supporting EVS at Providence sites to officially join the organization.
This move is part of changes made in provincial legislation whereby health authorities and Providence will repatriate food services and housekeeping contracts in a phased approach. This means that contracted employees currently working at Providence sites will have the opportunity to join Providence.
To support the transition, our onboarding team led by Elizabeth Stanger, Corporate Director, Strategic Initiatives, and including key members from our People team: Labour Relations, Recruitment, Staffing, Data Analytics and Occupational Health & Safety as well as Communications and the Office of Strategy & Results, are hard at work to ensure that transitioning employees know about the change and their Providence employment opportunities as well as feel welcomed and supported as services transition in-house.
Providence also welcomed Benson Low as Director, Environmental Services in late February, and while he joins us from Business Initiatives and Support Services (BISS), he began his Providence journey in 1991 in the Food Services Department at St Vincent’s Heather. Bringing 31 years of experience and a wealth of knowledge both operationally and from a managerial lens, Benson will lead EVS at Providence throughout the repatriation of EVS staff and beyond!
On-site information sessions will be held in the coming weeks to support transitioning workers, meet with them and answer their questions or address any concerns.
Bringing EVS in-house follows more than 200 food services staff currently working for Sodexo across our sites, who will begin their first day of work as Providence employees on June 24, 2022.
We will keep you updated with important changes and dates as additional details become available.
For more information, visit the EVS Onboarding web page or email WelcomePHC@providencehealth.bc.ca.
