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• VCH is a great place to work.  

  Posted on 21 January 2023 by Rater #29 | Add Comment | Flag as inappropriate

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• Most of the categories where I picked 1, I'd have chosen zero if possible.
  
  The only reason I rated them high for advancement is because they advance pretty well anyone into a management position. The less management experience you have, the better.
  
  The management is toxic and abusive.   read complete rating Hide complete rating

  Posted on 22 January 2022 by Rater #28 | Add Comment | Flag as inappropriate

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• When I was a patient at VGH under VCH I was treated excellent with my care and my cardiac surgery went well. As an employee working for VCH it's very different. It depends on who your supervisor or manager is. I can't speak for other departments but in the maintenance department the managers do not support advancement or training for employees, they would rather hire a person off the street rather than to provide some internal training if the employee has some of the qualifications for the job. The vacation and benefits are good. The pay could be better. In 2004 almost half of the employees in BC Healthcare received a wage rollback from the Liberal government that were in at the time. It took allot of us to work up until 2018 to reach the wages that we were at before the rollback in 2004. My advice try to avoid the land mines and just focus on your own work. The HR Advisors working in the Employee Engagement Dept or Human Resources Dept often bully employees. It's how they speak to an employee, threaten by saying "You may be disciplined " You may face termination" Just ignore and don't be intimidated by any such bullying or harassment. Employees as well as Managers and HR Advisors are not allowed to bully other employees. I would advise not seeking help using the internal complaint process that VCH has for reporting bullying. I have observed that the HR Advisor assigned to help that is being bullied may blame the employee for being bullied rather than investigating facts. I have witnessed if a manager does not like an employee or listens to rumours that are not true then the manager may hinder an employee when that person is trying to move to another worksite or department. I have seen all too often managers hiring employees on the outside first when we have internal qualified employees ready and wanting to do job they applied for. VCH is a union worksite, there is a process that suppose to be followed for internal applicants before they hire externally and the internal process under the agreement is not always followed. I have witnessed Care aid employees work to upgrade their nursing skills and pass their LPN exams only to find out that their own worksite under VCH will not hire them as an LPN no explanation from the manager as to why this is being done, therefor they often will get a job at a different work site. Another case of a clerk working for one of VCH's hospital sites made a small error. No life was lost, no person or patient was effected, matter of fact this employee had a doctor's note of her illness to explain the circumstances and the time off. The VCH site manager disagreed and wanted to terminate this employee. The employee did nothing wrong to merit termination or any discipline, and managent had known this. The manager and HR Advisor bullied and threatened an employee to sign their own resignation. Stating that if he/she resigned then the site manager would give this employee a good reference. Unfortunately the employee did not have good representation with them in the meeting and therefore signed the resignation under duress.
  My advice, try to keep your head down and avoid getting too
  Involved with the politics. Go to your immediate supervisor or
  manager if you are bullied. If the problem continues or if the bully is a manager than an employee can seek
  some outside advice, labour lawyer, BC Human Rights Commision, file a claim with Worksafe BC. If the employee is in a union, the employee has the right to file a harassment grievance and note the violations in their agreement. When filing the grievance appeal, for Remedy always put some dollar figure and to be made whole.
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  Posted on 13 January 2021 by Rater #27 | Comments (3) | Flag as inappropriate

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• I am astonished and disgusted by how poorly I was treated by Vancouver Coastal Health. The people who get promoted in this organization are those that are willing to trample all over the staff beneath them. They purport to have policies in place to deal with bullying and other such concerns, but these are just a farce. I would recommend VCH only to my worst enemy.   read complete rating Hide complete rating

  Posted on 6 October 2017 by Rater #25 | Comments (2) | Flag as inappropriate

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• It's ironic how little this health care authority cares for the health of its employees. Upper management is made up of administrators and business managers who know little to nothing about the provision of health care. They've adopted a model called LEAN, which was developed by Toyota in Japan. Yeah, Toyota, where robots on assembly lines build cars with accelerators that stick, and where it's not uncommon for people in their 30s to drop dead from overwork. VCH treats employees like interchangeable parts in a machine: when one breaks, you throw it out and replace it with a new one (unless the machine can hobble along without it, in which case you overtax the remaining parts as much as possible). When the whole machine needs adjustment, you throw it out and buy a new model. To newer people who still think it's a good employer, I'd say you just haven't been around long enough to be screwed over by the organization.
  
  VCH uses collective agreements to punish employees who need support or try to self-advocate. The unions won't take it on, because it's one of the biggest employers in the province. It's inflexible. Have an injury or chronic illness? In your 60s but not ready to retire? Forget shifting from full-time to part-time; VCH will work you into the ground and force you to quit. Want to pursue training to stay at the top of your game? Be prepared to do it on your own time, at your own expense. Want to provide the best possible care for your clients and patients? Forget it; you're providing the cheapest and fastest, regardless of effectiveness.
  
  VCH is a sick, toxic, traumatized and traumatizing organization. And it has a monopoly on the industry.   read complete rating Hide complete rating

  Posted on 7 November 2016 by Rater #23 | Add Comment | Flag as inappropriate

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• I have worked for this employer for 28 years. It was an excellent workplace then; many reorganizations have eroded that. Now it is a toxic workplace, neither physically or psychologically safe. The manager refused to correct unsafe working conditions. Front line staff work heroically to care for the most vulnerable people in crisis, in spite of management, rather than supported by them. We are getting burned out. Upper management instigate reorganizations without regard for impacts on front line workers or patients, and never come down to the front line to find out what it is like. We are the actual carers, which is the whole point of the existence of the organization. We're the ones who live what it's actually like, working with increasing workloads, increasing complexity, decreased staff, decreased hours, decreased resources, decreased supports, no communication, no control, no respect. Then another round of cuts, and we are expected to do even more with even less. The people who care, and do a heroic job, get burnt out, and have to go on stress leave, or worse stress related illnesses. The ones who manage to stay become hardened; stop using empathy so they can survive there. Kowtow to the bully managers and you can get on. Express concern about safety, patient or staff health and welfare, and you get targeted.
  I can no longer work there or anywhere because of the long term stress illness from the toxic workplace.
  Don't work here, or make plans to get out; ruining your health from working here is not worth it. But I feel so sorry for the patients who have to be there.   read complete rating Hide complete rating

  Posted on 9 May 2016 by Rater #22 | Comments (1) | Flag as inappropriate

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• Working for coastal health maintenance started out to be a great job.People were a pleasure to work with and helpfull.But there is a maintenance Manger who has surrounded himself with henchmen that have no clue how to deal with people and building repair issues.If the general public ever saw the derelict buildings,mold ,disrepair,and blatant fire code issues I have seen, heads should be on the chopping block. If you ran your own buisness as they run this operation, you would have to start as a billionaire to become a millionare.I thought this job could see me to retirement but ,I am seriously considering quitting and going back to commercial construction, even tho I have a permanent position. A note to the managers if you do happen to read this "IF you are looking for cheap unskilled labour hire from labour ready " But be prepared to do a lot of baby sitting.
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  Posted on 9 March 2016 by Rater #21 | Add Comment | Flag as inappropriate

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• Avoid, avoid, avoid!
  
  I've left Vancouver Coastal now after a decade of being subject to worsening treatment. They are the worst health authority to work for. They treat their staff like garbage, ignore union rules, and have managers who obviously play favourites with people who suck up to them.
  
  Don't even bother with this organization if you want to be employed as, and treated like, a professional. Here, you get treated like a child. And don't bother having an opinion, because no one cares and, if you voice it, you'll just get into trouble.
  
  What a terrible place. I feel sorry for the people I've left behind.   read complete rating Hide complete rating

  Posted on 7 February 2016 by Rater #19 | Add Comment | Flag as inappropriate

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• This is by far the worst employer I have encountered. Every aspect of my employment from hiring to me leaving had a glitch. EVERY aspect. I wasn't connected to computer systems, email or shared drives of the clinics I was required to work at. Incorrect spelling of my name on benefits and email. I had given notice and after I left I had to follow up on my ROE 3 weeks later, to find out they had me listed as still employed. They then disclosed my personal payroll information to a complete stranger on a group email and today, 2 months after I had quit, I came home to a letter stating 'a result of your reversed orientation' that I owe them $. What is a reversed orientation??! Good luck working there! You'll need it.   read complete rating Hide complete rating

  Posted on 17 June 2015 by Rater #18 | Add Comment | Flag as inappropriate

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• VCH Sunshine Coast Homes Support offices operate in an oppressive atmosphere. The management does not take care in protecting their workers from workplace hazards and bullying. In fact when these issues are reported punitive action is taken against the workers. The level of stress and amount of injuries is ongoing, and the lack of care from management is irresponsible at best.   read complete rating Hide complete rating

  Posted on 19 February 2015 by Rater #16 | Add Comment | Flag as inappropriate

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• Worked for this employer for over 8 years. Eventually left when they cut the 9 day fortnight. Couldn't work in front line health care delivery in the Downtown Eastside for 8 years without it. The rate of pay is great, and the benefits are fabulous, if you can use them, but dealing with management and the constant cutting of sick time rates was ridiculous. I literally had hundreds of sick hours in my bank when I left and would come to work on a regular basis when ill (infecting both my coworkers and my sick, vulnerable clients) because I would be threatened with a panel interview of managers trying to enrol me in a monitoring program that put my job on the line if I were to take more sick time than 1 day every 8 weeks. Good luck working in the DTES without getting sick every few months for a few days. If I can't use the sick time I've earned, it seems like a poor system. Management was in the practice of nitpicking and bullying and didnt care about anything other than numbers and percentages of time spent at work. As a professional, it was insulting to have my work tallied up as if clinical work could be measured by results and budgets. It was generally a most hostile environment for those without narcissistic tendencies.   read complete rating Hide complete rating

  Posted on 10 December 2013 by Rater #14 | Comments (1) | Flag as inappropriate

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• Absolutely horrible employer. Provides an unsafe workplace and then penalizes you for getting injured on the job. Says there is no extra money to hire enough staff to cover the immense workload but then suddenly has the cash to hire another useless manager (who needs 3 managers to manage 15 people?) whose salary is well over $100000. God help you if you become sick, because not only will you have to deal with your illness, you have to deal with the HR vultures interrogating you every chance they getl. I wouldn't wish VCH on my worst enemy.   read complete rating Hide complete rating

  Posted on 4 September 2013 by Rater #12 | Comments (1) | Flag as inappropriate

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• VCH, especially the North Shore Home Support division, is run by a bunch of conceited idiots who do not care at all about there clients or there employees. They may talk the talk to impress people, but it's all about a private power trip for them at the tax payers expense and we workers and the vulnerable clients suffer because of it!   read complete rating Hide complete rating

  Posted on 27 June 2013 by Rater #11 | Add Comment | Flag as inappropriate

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• VCH doesn't care a bit for the well-being of employees, and they tell us so in no uncertain terms. Decisions are made at the top of a deep hierarchy and delivered down through layers of middle management with no opportunity for consultation or feedback. The people making decisions about client care, workload, and service delivery are so far removed from the work that many decisions make no logical sense whatsoever. The message from immediate supervisors? "We're helpless. Suck it up."
  
  The skilled and educated people delivering care are doing their best, with no real support from above. This is one of the most backward and top-heavy organizations I've ever worked for. The only way to survive is to keep your head down, shut up, and focus on the work.
  
  VCH is truly a soul-sucking place to work. Avoid at all costs, because once they get you hooked in with that non-transferable pension, and the illusion of job security, it's extremely difficult to break free.   read complete rating Hide complete rating

  Posted on 26 June 2013 by Rater #10 | Add Comment | Flag as inappropriate

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• Top-down bullying is rampant; no active accountability exists from management up, which means Respectful Workplace Policy has no teeth re top-down bullying. Some managers are great, others glaringly incompetent, with no one holding them accountable. Same goes for directors. A very toxic paranoid atmosphere, for good reason. Front-line workers here are some of the most dedicated I've found, in many years of work in mental health. Often taken advantage of by management, overworked, under-supported, their experience-based feedback ignored. In my experience, VCH's values and Vision is lip service only, propaganda. Powerful cliques, allowing for mini dictatorships and much nepotism, again due to no accountability. Pay was very good. I loved the job itself but intimidating atmosphere and incompetent management eventually affected my health to the point of causing me to seek work elsewhere.   read complete rating Hide complete rating

  Posted on 24 October 2012 by Rater #9 | Add Comment | Flag as inappropriate

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• Deceitful Business Model: Vancouver Coastal: "Come for the job stay for the team. "
  Not much of a team spirit here. Staff are disposable. Heavy handled , top heavy management team.
  Re: Sick time management of this employer. Those that don't care and have high sick time manage to get accomodation. Those that are worried about being harassed about reasonable sick time come to work sick and this poses a risk to other staff and patients. But who truly cares about the patient. It is all about numbers and productivity. A factory atmosphere. Truly an Animal Farm.   read complete rating Hide complete rating

  Posted on 3 June 2012 by Rater #8 | Add Comment | Flag as inappropriate

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• Out of the last 3 major employers I've worked for, Vancouver Coastal Health is by far the worst. Their pay and benefits are lower than most other employers of this scale. There are no morals and ethics in how they treat their employees.   read complete rating Hide complete rating

  Posted on 5 December 2011 by Rater #7 | Add Comment | Flag as inappropriate

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• Great organization to work for. Not perfect, but a great one. If you're one who uses a lot of sick time they will be on you, as they should be, to get your sick time down to industry standards. I worked there for 12 years and I get a pension of around $1300 month at 55 years old when I retired so I could do other things, so great benefits.   read complete rating Hide complete rating

  Posted on 27 November 2011 by Rater #6 | Add Comment | Flag as inappropriate

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• Overall great company to work for!  

  Posted on 11 July 2011 by Rater #5 | Add Comment | Flag as inappropriate

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• This organization is the worst organization i have ever worked for..they do nothing to help their employees, they actually make them sick..they tell you to stay home if your sick, and then when you do stay home they bring you into a room with a a panel of 5 people to explain to them why your job is making you sick..well DUH, its the job, its the profession, its the management.   read complete rating Hide complete rating

  Posted on 26 May 2011 by Rater #4 | Add Comment | Flag as inappropriate

  Was this review helpful? 42 5