We are inviting staff and medical staff in Vancouver Acute and Vancouver Community to attend a focus group to share their experiences in regard to accessing childcare. Your input will help us determine how we can support the development of regional childcare solutions.
Developing childcare solutions supports our commitment to advancing equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) by reducing barriers for staff and medical staff. We believe this is critical to delivering exceptional care and building a great place to work. In addition, offering more childcare solutions will help us attract and retain a talented, diverse workforce.
There are two focus groups being held for staff and medical staff who are working in Vancouver. Focus groups for staff and medical staff working in other communities of care have not yet been announced.
Vancouver Community - online focus groups held on:
- Thursday, June 20
- Tuesday, June 25
- Wednesday, June 26
Vancouver Community Registration
Vancouver Acute - in person focus groups held at Vancouver General Hospital on:
- Wednesday, June 12
- Tuesday, June 18
- Tuesday, June 18
Vancouver Acute Registration
Registration:
Please register to indicate which session(s) you are available to attend. We will confirm which session you have been scheduled for.
Please note that we will be selecting a limited number of staff and medical staff from a cross-section of roles, departments and worksites, on a first-come basis, to ensure we have representation from a range of groups. We will follow up directly with those who are unable to participate to inform them of alternate ways of providing their feedback.
Focus group topics
During the focus group, you will be asked about:
- your schedule and role
- your children's ages
- how your work is affected by your childcare situation and any barriers you face when accessing childcare
- what is important to you when looking for childcare
We are interested in hearing from staff and medical staff who are looking for childcare, as well as those who have already met their childcare needs. If you have ideas of partnerships we could explore or other success stories we can draw from, we want to hear those too.
We will facilitate discussion and brainstorming creative ideas and possible solutions.
Our childcare strategy
In 2021, we asked staff and medical staff about their childcare needs. Based on this, childcare was identified as an opportunity for supporting our staff and medical staff and promoting equity, diversity and inclusion. In December 2023, a manager for the Employee Childcare Program joined the People team to support the development of a childcare strategy.
The childcare landscape in B.C. has changed since 2021, including decreased fees through provincial initiatives and an increase in the number of $10-a-day spaces, and this may have affected the needs of our staff and medical staff.
We are now holding focus groups to learn more about childcare needs of our staff and medical staff. This is part of our long-term childcare strategy being developed and more work is being planned for the future. We will be posting updates on our oneVCH childcare webpage, which will be available in the coming weeks.
We thank you for providing your valuable input.
Contact information
If you have a question, please contact childcare@vch.ca.
