Reid Johnson steps down as president of HSA

VANCOUVER, Sept. 11, 2013 /CNW/ - HSA's Board of Directors announces the resignation of President Reid Johnson effective today, September 11, 2013.

As provided under the union's constitution, vice president Val Avery, a physiotherapist at Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria, steps in as the new president.

First elected as president in April 2007, Johnson earned his Masters of Social Work at UBC and holds a post-masters certificate in family therapy. He has worked in psychiatry, spinal cord and vocational rehabilitation, and in family therapy. Johnson originally joined HSA in 1988 and has been a full-time member of the union since 1990. He joined the Board of Directors in 1997, and previously served as the union's secretary-treasurer.

"It has been a privilege for me these past six and a half years to represent HSA members working throughout the health care and social services systems in British Columbia," Johnson said.

"In that time, members have been under continuous pressure to deliver excellent and compassionate services in spite of growing shortages, tightening budgets, and continued assaults on those very services," he said.

"For personal reasons, the timing is right for me to step away from the leadership of the union. I join with the rest of the board of directors in welcoming Val Avery who will take over as president until an election is held in April 2014. Val has served in many important capacities in the union and is fully prepared for the work ahead in the coming months," he said.

Avery has been President of HSA since September 2013.

A union member for 30 years, she served as union's vice president since May 2009. Avery has been the chair the Health Science Professionals Bargaining Association, which negotiates on behalf of 17,000 health science professionals working in BC's public acute and community health care facilities. She led the committee through the last two rounds of bargaining.

Avery is a physiotherapist at Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria, working in the outpatient orthopaedic clinic. She is a member of the board of directors of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation - BC and Yukon Branch. Avery is a strong advocate for health science professionals and the public health care system, and is committed to speaking up for quality and accessible health care and community services, and respect for the people who deliver these services.

SOURCE: Health Sciences Association of British Columbia

Miriam Sobrino, Health Sciences Association of BC:  604 439 0994; [email protected]