Island Health, which was previously known as Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA), is a great employer, offering decent benefits and wages as per the collective agreement. Being in a collective agreement means that there isn't a whole lot of flexibility, but depending on your manager, you may be able to work through your personal needs in order to manage your work-life balance. I worked at 6 different locations on Vancouver Island during my 12-year career with them. Each location had its own work environment, which was heavily dependent on those you were working with. As a whole, the environment was often supportive and reflexive. It became more stressful as time carried on, however, as we were working short staffed more and more frequently.

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False sense of security

Health Care Support Worker (Former Employee) - Victoria, BC - 21 June 2022

They don’t care about you. You can’t make complaints. When they’re ‘higher up’ they do what they want.Payroll is a joke, always errors. Always fighting with them for corrections.

Pros

The pay

Cons

Everything else

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Insights into Island Health

Based on 36 survey responses

What people like

Feeling of personal appreciation
Supportive environment
Clear sense of purpose

Areas for improvement

Trust in colleagues
Sense of belonging
Support from manager

Mental Health Worker

Mental Health, Addictions, and Recovery Worker (Current Employee) - Nanaimo, BC - 20 June 2022

Great coworkers, awesome supervisor, and learn a ton on the job! Tough to get out of a casual position or a temp line into something more permanent but the pay is good and benefits - if you can get a permanent line - are great.

Pros

Pay, casual dress

Cons

Graveyard shifts

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Unfair pay for Admin

Office Administrator (Current Employee) - Victoria, BC - 20 June 2022

Toxic management across the board. Admin who work under community get paid less than admin working under a facilities contract. Zero room for advancement if you work in Admin. If you change contracts you lose your seniority and vacation and have to start all over again.

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Top Heavy and Toxic

Residential Care Worker (Former Employee) - Nanaimo, BC - 17 June 2022

Island Health has some major issues in regards to management; one issue being they have too many managers/administrators, they will constantly leave units short staffed and say they need more funding to implement a better workload/employee balance but then hire unnecessary administration staff. Other issue with management/administration is a lot of those who hold the position are unqualified in one way or another; from never doing the job they are managing, to being such a bully when departmental concerns are brought up to them (I guess in retaliation to possibly making them appear inadequate at their job?). It’s a really well paying job, but the lack of camaraderie and teamwork will get to you eventually. And if it doesn’t, there usually is an unhappy employee who’s been there 20+ years wanting to snuff the positivity out of you like it was done to them years ago by a mean manager.

Pros

Good pay.

Cons

Horrendous managers.

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Awesome team and manager

Research Assistant (Current Employee) - Victoria, BC - 14 June 2022

Working with my current team has been really good. I have heard of bad stories at some departments, so I am glad mine is not like that. When your teams works well in terms of communication and the vibe is good, you'll love what you're doing!

Pros

Benefits, Flex days

Cons

Career advancement might take a while

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Nepotism Rules

Manager (Former Employee) - Victoria, BC - 8 June 2022

Taxpayers' nightmare.. interviews? what interviews? Oh you mean the facades they put up to prevent being scrutinizedA real shake-up required.. leaders have little to no accountabilityMy worst mistake was working here..

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Work Load EXCESSIVE - stay away if you value your health!!

Administrative Assistant (Former Employee) - Victoria, BC - 14 May 2022

The pay is deplorable for administrative positions. The work load is EXCESSIVE and work-life-balance does not exist. The corporate culture is also very toxic. Be forewarned you will make more money in the hospitality industry than you will in an Island Health administrative position. The administrative position's classification that supports a Director is embarrassingly under funded. Why are there so many excessive layers of bureaucratic management at Island Health? After paying all of the MANAGERS/DIRECTORS/EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS there is no money left in the budget to pay the front line workers like an administrative assistants a decent living wage....Why are Island Health administrative assistants not worthy of a decent salary?

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Fast paced, lovely teams but criminally understaffed

Occupational health and safety (Current Employee) - Vancouver Island, BC - 13 May 2022

Great teams and people but each position is given too much work to complete in a day because every department is criminally understaffed. The teams are always wonderful and supportive but it is stressful to always be behind. Also I do not think the benefits provide enough coverage for mental health services.

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Poor pay, brutal hours, indifferent managers, lack of sufficient training

Administrative Assistant (Former Employee) - Victoria, BC - 9 May 2022

Clerical jobs are criminally underpaid particularly the jobs in the facilities. Shift work is brutal with little to no opportunity to work regular hours, even with longevity and accumulated seniority. Leadership style is antiquated, and mostly punitive. There is little opportunity for advancement. One of the worst issues is administrative clerical staff are given very little training. Managers are stingy about training and coworkers resent training and often treat new employees antagonistically. This is partly attributed to the fact that long term employees are not compensated for the extra responsibility involved in orienting people. Employees get no wage increases with longevity and senior employees are shafted as they are saddled with additional responsibilities but maintain the same wage. The wages in the urgent clinics, barely over $20, the same wage I made starting with ISland HEalth in 1995! The low pay is horrendous and the hours are awful. You can make more money in the service industry with less complexity and take less abuse from the public. Managers do little to nothing to shield workers from patient abuse. Health care workers are subjected to a tremendous amount of bad treatment from the general public with no support system to combat the difficulties. I would say that, with the low pay, that does not even come close to meeting cost of living requirements, the brutal shift work, indifferent old school managers, and the stress and hardship dealing with an angry public make health care, at least in a support role, untenable. Island Health needs to change their leadership -

Pros

pension, benefits

Cons

shift work, low pay, indifferent managers, punitive leadership style, low morale, lack of training

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Jobs at Island Health

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Audiometric Technician

Victoria, BC

3 hours ago

Human Resources Partner

British Columbia

7 days ago

Health Care Assistant

Patient Services Aide

Nanaimo, BC

1 day ago

Hard job, made harder by toxic people

Health Care Assistant (Former Employee) - Victoria, BC - 31 March 2022

If you can't speak tagalog you will be the butt of every joke, (resident or co worker.)It is better to try a few sites, units, speak to management, quit if it's toxic, workers are expendable.

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Great place for a career

Diagnostic Medical Sonographer (Current Employee) - Nanaimo - 29 March 2022

NRGH is full of employees who enjoy their job and are patient first oriented. The upper management have paths for future career steps and create an overall good morale

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Supportive co-workers

Community Health Worker (Current Employee) - Parksville, BC - 1 March 2022

working for island health is really a blessing. co workers are supportive. Hoping they have just programs for staff to enchance improve career like HCA upgrading to LPN or RN. sometimes you feel stuck on your job and no oppurtunity for advancement.

Pros

unionized

Cons

working in health care is really stressfull so you need to be prepared

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Emphasis on unsustainable production numbers. The harder you work, the harder they work you.

Laundry (Current Employee) - Victoria General Hospital - 10 January 2022

General laundry at Victoria General Hospital. Often a sweatshop atmosphere on "soiled" side (you work on a conveyor belt sorting laundry amid feces, soiled adult diapers, moldy laundry, and garbage) as fast as you can, often resulting in injuries to hands, shoulders. Constant pressure to go faster. Many exhausted and disillusioned employees.

Pros

Lots of overtime

Cons

Lots of overtime

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Management sucks

Cowichan District Hospital, Medical Imaging Reception and Booking Clerk (Former Employee) - Duncan, BC - 9 January 2022

I loved my job, but the constant unnecessary criticism and zero support from mgmt made it unbearable. Definitely overworked, underpaid and unsupported. I would NOT recommend working at Island Health Medical Imaging as mgmt is the same people island wide. Apply elsewhere.

Pros

Coworkers were AMAZING people, that’s the only pro.

Cons

No support, constant criticism, lack of action by mgmt treated like it was a dictatorship, They’re losing so many people due to this poor mgmt team at Medical Imaging.

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Busy! Can be stressful

Registered Psychiatric Nurse (Former Employee) - Port Alberni, BC - 11 December 2021

Very busy, can be stressful when it’s short staffed. Lots of hours come up and overtime too. Most Managers are very supportive. Learn a lot on the job.

Pros

A lot of hours

Cons

Stressful

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Patriarchal, unsupportive, top heavy with management

RN Staff Nurse (Current Employee) - Campbell River, BC - 7 November 2021

Island Health lack the insight into how their staff function to give good care to their patients. Old fashioned methods of managing, poor leadership, terrible communication and very limited support for staff. Do not listen to staff and do not offer annual review support to help with career development.Very Patriarchal top down approach which is way behind other health providers in Canada and Europe.Driven by numbers and not by caring. Unwilling to evolve into something more modern and affective.

Pros

Pay and benefits are good

Cons

Not supportive of staff, not caring enough towards patients

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Strongly unionized. Emoloyee with years of union membership have a unfair advantage over people with less years but far more deserving.

FSS/DT (Former Employee) - Nanaimo , Vancouver Island - 4 November 2021

The department I worked for recruits as far as Ontario but hardly helps financially to help relocate. They only offer 1/5th of the limit which isnt even close to what you are going to need.They objection was evidently palpable when I asked if they could do better even for a bit. Only interested in filling their manpower without genuine concern about your welfare.

Pros

See the west

Cons

Everything

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Good team work

RCA (Former Employee) - Victoria, BC - 4 November 2021

Taking care of people, has made me a better person and love a good team working environment.i know there is alot of gossip and to many workers that are there strictly for the paycheck and benefits.more supervision is needeed

Pros

Great benefits and decent pay

Cons

Gossip

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Best work place in BC

SELECTED EMPLOYMENT - Health Unit Aide (Former Employee) - Victoria, BC - 19 October 2021

Island health was very good to me when I was seeking employment. They were fair yet expect a lot. I was very fortunate to have worked for them for 27 years.

Pros

No free lunch

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project resources could not report the 'real' news to project exective

Project Analyst, IHealth Project Delivery Office (Former Employee) - Victoria, BC - 18 October 2021

Bully management and lots of promotions considering the project did not meet even one of its deliverable dates. Island Health resources did not work well with vendor, mainly because upper management didn't. It did not make for a very productive, healthy environment. No onboarding for new project staff, it was left to each individual to figure out what the project was about. Poor planning, poor management and poor reporting.