fsa Informer

RCA Program Offers a Light
at the End of the Tunnel

I t’s a typical day for North Shore
resident Linda Kirby, who is
presently enrolled in Capilano
College’s Resident Care Attendant
program.

“T get up at 5 a.m. and get ready
for school,” she says. “At 5:45, I
review my books then leave home.
I take classes from 8:30 to 3:30 and
then go home and open up the
books again. Afterwards, I get
supper ready and do housework.
After the dinner dishes are done I
do homework and by then, if I’m
lucky, I have an hour to relax before
going to bed.”

This is a demanding enough
schedule for anybody and this 45-
year-old mother of two is no
exception. “It’s tough because I’m
still trying to do it all; be a wife, a
mother and a student.”

Linda, who hasn’t been to school
since 1966, had worked as a Dietary
Aide at Lions Gate Hospital for 11
years. Last March, the entire
Dietary Food department was told
that all future work would be done
at Burnaby Hospital. “They’re
going to the “cook and chill”
system, Linda says. “The same
system used by the airlines.”
Employees in the department
received notice that their jobs
would terminate as of March 31,
1995.

But staff members at Lions Gate
Hospital who are caught in the
downsizing web because of the
adoption of the “new directions:
closer to home philosophy,” are
benefitting from an innovative
education program announced last
year by the Ministry of Skills,
Training and Labour. The Ministry
is funding retraining through the
provincial Health Labour
Adjustment Agency (HLAA),
which deals specifically with areas
affected by labour cuts.

Fourteen of Margot’s 20

Linda Kirby

classmates are from Lions Gate
Hospital. “I feel lucky because my
employer is behind me and the others
100 per cent and has the confidence in
us to put us through this program,”
Linda says. “Without them, we would
not be able to pursue this
opportunity.”

The majority of students in the
RCA program have jobs to go to when
they complete the program in June.
Linda won’t even have to change
employers. She has been hired as an
RCA at Lions Gate Hospital. “I looked
at this as a career change as opposed
to losing my job,” she says. “I’ve
always wanted to go into nursing, but
never had the time to pursue it.”

Although she hasn’t been in school
for 29 years, Linda, already a
grandmother, says she is really
enjoying it. “I think it’s neat. It’s like
family here. Our instructors are
making us feel very comfortable.

“Now there’s a light at the end of
the tunnel,” she adds, referring to the
upsetting news that arrived last March.
“T have many more venues to choose
from now. I don’t have to stay ina
hospital environment. I could go all
around the world and use my new
skills. It’s an experience you never
lose.” O