Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER OCTOBER 2019 26 INSIGHT The heavy weight of wait times I recently found out my teen- age son has scoliosis. It's been a tough few weeks since the diagnosis, as we cope with the news and what it means. ankfully, he's not in any pain, but it's been heartbreaking in a way — I'm not sure how we missed it because now the symptoms seem so obvious; although if you're not looking, they're hard to see. Over the past couple of weeks, we've had to chase down copies of the images and reports from hospitals and clinics, and seek out referrals and expertise. While we're pretty sure he'll need some kind of brace, there's nothing we can do until we see a specialist. And we've finally been given a date in mid-October to see someone at a Toronto hospital. But then it's likely we'll need to see another specialist. So we're talking at least a couple of months before we have some an- swers, which seems like forever. So, we must wait. Alarming numbers I mention all this because it serves as a good reminder of the whole issue of wait times when it comes to health-care treatment. And it's a reminder why employ- ers are often concerned about these wait times and the ensuing impact on employees. Whether it's a six-hour visit to emergency or a six-month wait for a hip replacement, these de- lays obviously mean workers are away from work, distracted from work or unhealthy at work — for an extended amount of time. Needless to say, it's made my work more challenging lately, as my mind wanders to X-rays of my son's spine and worrying about his future. Encouragingly, a December 2018 report from the Fraser Institute found wait times for medically necessary treatment in Canada decreased last year. Spe- cialist physicians reported a me- dian waiting time of 19.8 weeks between referral from a general practitioner and receipt of treat- ment — shorter than the wait of 21.2 weeks reported in 2017. However, the wait time is 113-per-cent longer than back in 1993, when it was just 9.3 weeks. at's a significant leap, making me wish I could time travel back to those better times. And it really makes a differ- ence when it comes to where a person lives. Saskatchewan has the shortest total wait time (15.4 weeks), while New Brunswick has the longest (45.1 weeks), ac- cording to the Fraser Institute. Of course, the type of medical issue also is a big factor, with pa- tients waiting 39 weeks between a GP referral and orthopaedic surgery or 3.8 weeks for medical oncology treatment. e shortest wait for a special- ist consultation is in Saskatch- ewan (6.3 weeks), while the lon- gest is in New Brunswick (28.5 weeks), said the report. Seven months is an awfully long time to be patient. ere's also the issue of emer- gency room waits — always a consideration when you have an ailment and you're not sure if you want to spend those many hours to have something checked. In 2017-18, the average "age- standardized" length of stay in emergency was highest in Mani- toba, at 3.75 hours, followed by Saskatchewan, at 3.4 hours. People in Yukon (1.7 hours) and Alberta (2.4) fared the best, according to the Canadian In- stitute of Health Information (CIHI). (I'd say I've averaged about three hours when I've visit an emergency room in Toronto.) ankfully, more hospitals and clinics are starting to post wait times online, to give people some options in picking a location. But when it comes to people actually being admitted to hos- pital, patients in Ontario spent an average of nearly 16 hours in 2017-18 — more than two hours longer than in 2015-16, and the longest it's been in six years, ac- cording to a 2019 report from Health Quality Ontario. And for employers with older workers, there's the issue of em- ployees seeking hip or knee re- placements or cataract surgery, which are seeing longer wait times, according to the CIHI. Obviously, there's not a whole lot employers can do when it comes to improving the actual health-care system. But support and understanding from man- agement — whether that means appropriate benefits or just a conversation to check in — can help ease the mind of an employ- ee enduring these types of delays, and hopefully lead to better out- comes at work. LONELY JUVENILE FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — A quiet day at Peace River North School District office in Fort St. John, B.C. almost ended without incident before a moose crashed through the front door. "It wandered up to one of the windows because you could see the blood and saliva on the desk where it had obviously gone up and looked through a window," said instructor Jarrod Bell to Canadian Press. Accord- ing to Bell, after a talk with con- servation officers, young moose are kicked out of their homes around this time of year so maybe "the moose was upset that it was alone," he said. e animal was later seen running through the town, apparently none the worse for wear. VERBOTEN TOPIC BRAMPTON, Ont. — After a book with a provocative title — e Guide for White Women Who Teach Black Boys — was seen in a photograph of a Brampton, Ont. high school principal, a mini-firestorm erupted recently. "[She's] a bad principal," said one Twitter user on Michelina Batta- glini, while another took issue with Michelina Battaglini, the school's new principal: "No prin- cipal should make it this far while subsequently needing a book like this." However, the book, which was written in 2017, is a valu- able resource for educators, said Michelle Coutinho, principal of equity at the Cardinal Ambrozic Catholic Secondary School. "We know that we're steeped in a colonized kind of worldview and how do we break out of that in our everyday practices?" she told the CBC after the picture was tweeted out. SUPPORT CLOWN AUCKLAND — Many workers have faced the reality of being let go, but one forward-thinking ad- vertising employee brought along a support person when it was his turn. Joshua Jack paid $200 (all figures NZD) for a profes- sional clown to accompany him to a redundancy meeting, he told Auckland radio station Magic Talk. e clown quietly made two balloon animals during the meet- ing, which prompted Jack to la- ment: "I basically spent $100 per balloon animal." e clown, who mimed crying as the layoff notice was handed out, was worth the money, says Jack. "I did get fired, but, apart from that, all smooth running." BURNING EXPENSES BLACK ROCK DESERT, Nev. — Going to the nine-day annual Burning Man music festival is not exactly the ideal place to claim expenses. But some companies are beginning to view the massive party in the Nevada desert as a legitimate business cost, accord- ing to Bloomberg. Employees of software company 15Five are now able to charge the company up to US$425 in an effort to foster cre- ativity among staff, says company co-founder Shane Metcalf, co- founder. But not all corporate ex- periences at Burning Man turned out so rosy: "It was very interest- ing, being there with a group of people who wouldn't have been there on their own steam," says Santiago Genochio of Faceparty, a social media company, who, in 2007, bought tickets for about 12 staff members. While the experi- ence was "amazing," the company had to lay off staff the following year. HIGH FLYERS CLEMSON, S.C. — A day at work for two restaurant employ- ees in South Carolina ended up with them becoming airborne. Before an event for Clemson University in South Carolina, employees of the Esso Club were setting up tents and tables, when a blast of storm winds propelled them off their feet. A video shows Samuel Foster being flung up in the air, higher than a building, before he is slammed into a gut- ter. "It took a second for me to register, but then I'm like 20 feet in the air," Foster told CNN. He suffered cuts and bruises, but he was otherwise OK. e other employee hit a table after land- ing, but her injuries were not considered serious. GRISLY ENCOUNTER SLAVE LAKE, Alta. — Many retail employees have faced snarling, rowdy customers, but it's not often that the customer is a bear. Recently, Sam Assaf opened the door to look out of his Slave Lake, Alta. barbershop when he noticed a black bear outside. Curi- ous, Assaf took photos of the creature, but then it suddenly dawned on him that the large beast was heading into his shop. "I've been in this business for 17 years and I've never seen anything like it," he told CTV Edmonton, recounting that the bear went on to defecate on the floor and rifle through his workstation. e bear eventually departed, but for Assaf, he has a funny story for life. "How ironic — a bear is hanging at [his barbershop] the Lionsden." Credit: Svetlana Foote (Shutterstock) W EIRD ORKPLACE THE Vol. 32 No. 10 –October 2019 PUBLISHED BY HAB Press Limited, a subsidiary of Key Media 20 Duncan St. 3rd Floor, Toronto, ON M5H 3G8 ©Copyright 2019 by HAB Press Ltd. All rights reserved. KEY MEDIA and the KEY MEDIA logo are trademarks of Key Media IP Limited, and used under license by HAB Press Limited. CANADIAN HR REPORTER is a trademark of HAB Press Limited. CANADIAN HR REPORTER is published 12 times a year. 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Address changes and returns: Send changes and undeliverable Canadian addresses to: 20 Duncan St. 3rd Floor, Toronto, ON M5H 3G8 SUBSCRIBER SERVICES Canadian HR Reporter One Corporate Plaza 20 Duncan St. 3rd Floor, Toronto, ON M5H 3G8 CUSTOMER SERVICE Call: (416) 609-3800 (Toronto) (800) 387-5164 (outside Toronto) Fax: (416) 298-5082 (Toronto) (877) 750-9041 (outside Toronto) Email: info@keymedia.com LETTERS TO THE EDITOR sarah.dobson@habpress.ca CHRR reserves the right to edit for length and clarity. Sarah Dobson Editor's Notes Saskatchewan has the shortest total wait time (15.4 weeks), while New Brunswick has the longest (45.1 weeks), according to the Fraser Institute.

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