New Health and Wellness Minister Gene Zwozdesky raised the topic of repairing health workersí morale at a meeting UNA attended with the minister and AHS CEO Stephen Duckett recently.
Dr. Chip Doig, President of the Alberta Medical Association, the Health and Wellness Deputy Minister Jay Ramotar, Catherine Roozen, Vice Chair of the AHS Board, and several others also attended the meeting on Wednesday, February 24th. Heather Smith and Director of Labour Relations David Harrigan represented UNA.
"It was the first meeting of its kind," Heather Smith said. "The Minister said it was an historic event, and I agree."
The informal discussion covered many areas of health care in the province, including health workforce numbers, hiring student nurses, performance measures, activity-based funding and even primary care networks.
AHS Board talks about UNA Negotiations
The topic of UNA's upcoming negotiations was not directly addressed, however, the AHS Board of Directors made a general statement about the talks at its recent Board meeting in Edmonton.
The summary report on the meeting shows the Board approved very general "Guiding Principles for United Nurses of Alberta Negotiations."
- "Alberta will be competitive with other provinces, ensuring that we attract and retain nurses."
- "We want to organize and manage the workforce to optimize the skills, function and expertise of nurses."
- "We want to engage nurses in the process of improving access, improving quality and safety, and assuring the sustainability of the system." |
