Alberta Health Services board dismissed.
from the National Union of Public and General Employees
The recent dismissal of the provincial health services board is "just the latest in a long history of mismanagement and bungling," said Elisabeth Ballermann, president of the Health Sciences Association of Alberta.
"Health care has gone through three massive reorganizations and an unending number of other changes of varying scale and has been forced to undergo a rollercoaster funding ride that has led to severe and needless funding cuts. The government fired regional health boards and their CEOS, then AHS fired their CEO, and now the Health Minister has fired the entire board — a board that the government itself selected — and ordered another review of how the system operates," she said.
"This constant upheaval has consequences that are being felt by patients. It makes it increasingly difficult for our members to provide the level of care that Albertans deserve and front line staff are being laid off at this time. Despite the assurances of Health Minister Fred Horne that the most recent bombshell will not be noticed on the front lines, it's unrealistic to claim that a system in almost constant chaos can perform as well as it should."
Recent government decisions to cut funding for people with developmental disabilities and change the model of home-care delivery are affecting the care of vulnerable Albertans, she said.
“This constant upheaval has consequences that are being felt by patients. It makes it increasingly difficult for our members to provide the level of care than Albertans deserve and front line staff are being laid off at this time.”
"What we are seeing today are yet more symptoms of a sick health care system. If health care in Alberta were a patient, thanks to Alberta government bungling, it would be in intensive care today."
She added that while the government says it is committed to driving change in the health care system, the government in fact is "handing money and opportunities to for-profit corporations" without consultation of those most affected by the change.
About National Union of Public and General Employees
The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good.
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