Health P.E.I.'s outdated diversity policy is placing vulnerable workers at risk, say critics

A Health P.E.I. employee says the provincial health authority's equity and diversity policy is inadequate and fails to protect marginalized health-care workers.

The policy, which went into effect in 2008, is supposed to be reviewed every three years. The last review took place in 2017.

"It makes it feel like, for employees like myself, that equity, diversity, inclusion is not a priority," said Avery, a health-care professional who's worked with the agency for years. "It's lacking quite a bit of information, and it needs to be updated."

Avery is not the worker's real name. CBC News is protecting their identity because they fear losing their job for speaking out.

Liberal MLA Gord McNeilly said the two-page policy lacks specifics that would let Health P.E.I. leaders be held accountable for how they deal with complaints of discrimination or harassment.

For example, while the policy stipulates that all employees deserve to be treated equally, free from discrimination, and that violations "will not be tolerated," it doesn't explicitly define what those violations are or what corrective actions can be taken.

"There is no accountability in that policy whatsoever," said McNeilly, who is the Liberal Party's health critic as well as the P.E.I. Legislature's first known Black MLA.

"You can't just say, 'Oh, we're going to just follow the Human Rights Commission.' You have to make your own policy, and you have to be accountable for that."

With the health authority actively recruiting nurses from overseas to address staffing shortages, McNeilly says updating the policy should be a priority.

"If Health P.E.I. is recruiting international nurses, if they want to diversify, and they know that's the key to maintaining our health-care system, you have to protect people," he said.

In a statement to CBC News, Health P.E.I. acknowledged that its equity and diversity policy is out of date, but pointed to the fact that it has a respectful-workplace policy in place to ensure staff are treated with dignity and respect.

"Health P.E.I. is committed to reviewing the equity and diversity policy, with important review and input from all relevant stakeholders," the statement reads.

The health authority said it is providing diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging training to managers of internationally trained health-care workers. The training, delivered by the Immigrant and Refugee Services Association, is aimed at promoting empathy, patience and adaptability in the workplace, the statement says.

There have been previous allegations of a toxic environment that caused staff to leave Health P.E.I., although they didn't specifically involve minority or equity-deserving groups.