News

DHAA and BCDHA Announce Unique Partnership to Support Alberta Hygienists

EDMONTON, AB–The Dental Hygienist Association of Alberta (DHAA) and the British Columbia Dental Hygienists’ Association (BCDHA) are excited to announce a new partnership that will enable Alberta hygienists to access all of the programs and services offered by the BCDHA and give the DHAA an opportunity to tap into the knowledge and infrastructure of an organization that has been providing services to Dental Hygienists for more than 50 years.

The DHAA will continue to be an independent, self-organized non-profit society with a volunteer Board of Directors and will continue to serve the needs of their membership as it grows and develops now and into the future. This Service Agreement will enable the DHAA to purchase services that are often challenging for newer organizations to develop in a timely and impactful manner.

To name just some of the services that Hygienists in Alberta will be able to access:

• continuing education (webinars, toolkits)
• member services (policy tables, legal support, surveys and awards)
• advocacy and policy development (government relations, position statements)
• administration (bookkeeping, IT support)
• communications (website development, newsletters, social media).

“We approached the BCDHA because we value the innovative, ground-breaking work they have been doing to advance the dental hygiene profession in British Columbia,” said Danielle Perry, DHAA Board President. “This Agreement will allow us to tap into the strong infrastructure that already exists within BCDHA and ensure we can focus our attention on building the DHAA, without getting mired down in trying to build a staff team and development resources from the ground up.”

As a result of this agreement, BCDHA will expand staffing to increase professional development and continuing education opportunities, provide BC and Alberta-specific practice supports and focus on building a stronger network of Dental Hygienists and Associations across Western Canada.

“We are excited to work with DHAA. They are a new organization, but we have already seen them striving toward the type of innovation and forward-thinking that is required for membership organizations in this day and age,” said Susan Schmitz, BCDHA Chair. “BCDHA has a long list of things we would like to do, and with this partnership, we believe we have an opportunity to begin development on some initiatives and programs that hygienists have been longing for.”

This agreement will take effect on September 1st , 2022 with delivery of new programs and services building throughout the month. Both organizations will remain entirely independent, with independent boards and separate planning cycles.

Insurance will continue to exist through the DHAA for all Alberta hygienists. More information on the services and programs will become available and online in the days and weeks to come. Stay tuned for more information or sign up for DHAA membership at www.DHAA.ca

Contact:

Candice Boyce/Diana Mocha
Co-Executive Directors, DHAA
executivedirector@dhaa.ca

Andrea Burton
CEO, BCDHA
aburton@bcdha.com