As HEU welcomes the new Minister of Health Josie Osborne, we are also feeling deep gratitude to Adrian Dix for his stellar leadership in the Ministry of Health during the past seven years.
From the moment he took office as Health Minister in 2017, and ended contract-flipping in seniors’ care centres, HEU members knew that they had an ally who understands that good working conditions for health care staff are key to delivering quality public health care.
In 2020, when B.C. was thrust into an unprecedented public health care emergency, Minister Dix, steered B.C.’s health care system through one of its most challenging times in history. He brought in game-changing policies like the single-site order and wage-levelling for seniors’ care workers, that would protect both the public and health care workers.
From opening and building new health care facilities, to expanding health care training opportunities, to bringing in a new pay model for doctors, Minister Dix, steered B.C.’s public health care system away from nearly two decades of neglect and underfunding.
For HEU members, Minister Dix’ most important legacy as a Health Minister was his work reversing contracting out in health care facilities and bringing privatized health care workers back into the public sector. This historic policy would was life-changing for thousands of health care workers and their families. It would ensure more stable jobs, better working conditions, and improved patient safety for generations to come.
Thank you Minister Dix, for your years of dedication to improving working conditions for health care workers, putting B.C. on the path towards a first-class public health care system!