For Immediate Release January 16, 2009
No time for destructive budget
slashing in Alberta’s health care
The United Nurses of Alberta says our health system cannot withstand another round of destructive budget cuts.
“The last thing Albertans want now is longer waits in Emergency rooms and another huge shortage of staff and beds,” says UNA President Heather Smith. “We do not need to relive the destruction of the 1990s.”
The province’s population has grown a great deal and our hospitals and health services are not keeping pace. Much of this can be traced back to the ill-conceived budget cuts from 1994 when 5,000 Registered nurses were laid off.
The United Nurses of Alberta also disputes the validity of the recently released government’s PriceWaterhouseCoopers report of a health care deficit.
“This is a blatant attempt to manipulate public opinion with a custom-designed report that reinforces the government’s old message that health care spending is ‘out-of-control’ and unsustainable,” says Heather Smith.
The nurses union points out that some of the core observations in the report are just wrong. There were NO unusual or unforeseeable increases in health workforce costs in 2008.
“There were no surprises in health workforce costs. Nursing is the single largest workforce budget item and our agreement was set in 2007. The annual increments, like the 5% salary hike were a given,” she noted.
The union also notes that the report says unplanned increases in the workforce were an issue.
“We are just lucky to be able to find the nurses and staff to hire,” says Heather Smith. “There was never any question about whether the skyrocketing population in the province needed more caregivers. If you drastically under budget, of course you end up with a deficit.”
The union also points out that right across the province, health authorities were trying to open more beds, building new units and were going to have to staff them.
“In recent years our system has been rebuilding capacity after the cuts in the 1990s. You don’t shrink health care one year and resize it back up the next year. You can’t cut down a tree and expect shade protection from a new tree the next year. Albertans cannot have their health care hacked back again,” she says.
“It is a shame that this government constantly plays politics with Alberta’s most vital public service. We all depend on our health system when we need it,” says Heather Smith.
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For more information:
Keith Wiley, UNA Communications Officer, 780 425-1025
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