Vic Foundation wears heart on shirt

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This article was published 10/12/2021 (1564 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Victoria General Hospital’s fundraising body has teamed up with Winnipeg Blue Bombers slotback Nic Demski to boost local health-care workers.

The Vic Foundation has launched a clothing collection, with all proceeds to go to staff mental health initiatives. The T-shirts and hoodies (available at thevicfoundation.ca) read “Support our health-care workers” and are emblazoned with the Vic Foundation and Victoria hospital’s logos.

“My mother is a nurse, which is the main reason I wanted to partner with the Vic Foundation to help show health-care workers how much we care,” Demski said in a release Thursday.

The proceeds from sales will go to the Vic Foundation COVID-19 Critical Response Fund, which foundation executive director Nicole Chammartin says supports short-term wellness initiatives for staff at Victoria hospital and ACCESS Fort Garry amid the pandemic.

“I think people are sometimes looking for a chance to show that gratitude, and so we really loved the idea of creating something people could wear, both health-care workers and the public, to talk about that commitment to demonstrating support for health-care workers,” she said.

Some recent initiatives include “Foundation Fridays,” where staff are given free coffee once a week, and guest “wellness speakers” for staff.

“We support different events where we hand out food or different activities for staff on the ward,” Chammartin said. “We support different initiatives that staff say that they want to have.

“So if they’re planning some sort of wellness initiative, that might be some sort of training that they’re bringing in for staff, or an education session for staff, we can put (funding) towards that kind of wellness speaker”

The foundation works with a staff engagement committee at the hospital.

“I do think this staff do and will need longer-term support, as all of us likely will. One of the focuses of our foundation is mental health, and so for us, it’s important to walk our walk,” Chammartin said.

Manitoba Nurses Union president Darlene Jackson said she commended any programs that support nurses, a “profession that demands compassion.”

“This constant giving of oneself though comes at a price. As such, they need programs in place to help to purge, unload and release what they absorb in their work life,” she said in an email.

“The mental health supports of our members is something we are continuously striving to improve upon. We commend efforts to not only engage but also think expansively about what we can do to better help those that nurture every health-care worker in our system.”

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca