DATE:
June 2021
SUBJECT:
Recruitment through the COVID-19 Pandemic
BACKGROUND
This report will outline recruitment for the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit throughout the ever-changing COVID-19 Pandemic. The needs of the community required additional staff across the entire Windsor-Essex County Health Unit organization.
CURRENT INITIATIVES
The below information will provide a snapshot of the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit’s staffing numbers in March 2020 and current day information.
As the WECHU moved through the pandemic, there has been increased staffing throughout Non-Union and Management, CUPE and ONA positions.
WECHU has recruited approximately 118 new WECHU staff members between the time periods of March 1, 2020 to June 1, 2021. In addition to this group of individuals WECHU has also organized over 100 volunteer staff members (paid and non-paid positions) to assist with the COVID-19 vaccine clinics. Furthermore WECHU’s recruitment efforts have been supported by the Ministry of Health who hired a consultant, Ian Martin, to bring on over 40 Case Managers and Case and Contact tracing staff to assist with the large volume of COVID-19 cases in the Windsor-Essex area. WECHU has also hired a number of independent consultants to assist with the vaccine clinics. In addition, the WECHU received external assistance from other health units in Summer 2020 due to decreased capacity and increased cases.
At the end of February 2020, the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit had approximately 230 total staff members in the organization. As of June 1, 2021, there are approximately 320 total staff members representing an increase of 39.13%. At this time, ongoing recruitment continues which will increase the total overall number of WECHU staff.
- Non-Union/Management group had approximately 40 staff at the beginning of March 2020 and saw an increase of 47.5% in staffing by June 1, 2021 with a total of 59 permanent and contract employees.
- CUPE group had approximately 123 staff at the beginning of March 2020 and saw an increase of 15.45% in staffing by June 1, 2021 with a total of 142 permanent and contract CUPE members.
- ONA group had approximately 82 staff at the beginning of March 2020 and saw an increase of 48.78% in staffing by June 1, 2021 with a total of 122 permanent and contract ONA members. WECHU continues to onboard a number of new graduate nurses which will add to this overall total of contract ONA members.
Overall, the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit’s staffing during the COVID-19 pandemic has been greatly increased due to community needs. The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit has been able to support the community with the increase of staff amongst case and contact management, COVID-19 vaccine roll-out, and the reopening of schools throughout the year. The staff of the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit have been able to adapt and pivot into new programs and services throughout the last 15 months in order to ensure that the residents of Windsor-Essex were able to access the education and resources required throughout the pandemic. The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit has strived to continue other programs that provide resources and services to the community outside of COVID-19.