September 15, 2005
More wrong way!
Government wants to pay insurance companies to plan health care
More light was shed on the Alberta government’s plan to have private insurance take over from public Medicare this week. A Health and Wellness “Request for Proposals” looks at how to “shift” from a public health system to a for-profit insurance system.
“The government is looking to pay private insurance companies to plan how to privatize our public health care system,” says UNA President Heather Smith. “We can save them a lot of money, Albertans can tell them right away that making Alberta families pay private insurance premiums to cover health costs is NOT a feasible option. Nobody wants to go back to the bad old days of private insurance health care,” she said.
The Proposal document makes the government’s intentions clear. They are looking at “shifting all or part of the health services described in the schemes from a publicly funded approach to an insurance-based funding approach.”
“This proposal would turn virtually everything except emergency treatment into a private insurance plan,” Heather Smith points out.
“I can’t imagine that after our experiences with car insurance that Albertans want to entrust their health care to private insurance companies,” she said.
“This would be a huge change in health care in Alberta and should have a full public discussion. We expect the government will fully disclose all the results of this proposal, including which companies get the contract to make the plan and of course, how much private insurance would end up really costing Albertans,” said Heather Smith.
Several UNA positions acclaimed as UNA AGM date approaches
Nominations closed August 26 for UNA executive officer and executive board positions to be elected at this year’s Annual General meeting. 1st Vice-President Bev Dick and 2nd Vice-President Jane Sustrik were returned unopposed as executive officers. The President and Secretary-Treasurer positions are not up for election until next year.
A number of District representatives were also acclaimed to two-year positions on the Provincial Executive Board but elections are going to be held at the AGM for the South Central District and South District reps.
Also acclaimed to two-year terms on the Provincial Executive Board are:
North District: Roxann Dreger
North Central District: Teresa Caldwell, Judith Moar, Beryl Scott and Cari Smith
Central District: Joan Davis
Elections will be held at the AGM for the South Central and South District reps.
Nominated for three positions in South Central District are: Bruce Chatterton, Larry Connell, Blanche Hitchcow, Donnie Lacey, Denise Palmer, and Robert Reich-Sander.
Nominated for one position in South District are: Maxine Braun and Beverly Saylor.
The AGM is coming up October 25, 26, and 27th in Edmonton.
Nurses face gunfire in New Orleans
Last week legal authority broke down in flooded New Orleans and reports came out of nurses and hospital staff facing sniper fire while evacuating patients at the Charity Hospital. New Orleans has been declared uninhabitable and thousands more people have been asked to evacuate. Nurses continue to work at many of the hard-hit hospitals along the Gulf Coast and the Louisiana State Nurses Association is recruiting outside volunteer nurses to come in and work during what is now becoming the biggest public health crisis in U.S. history.
“If you have ER, ICU, or other hospital experience, please contact us at 1-800-457-6378, 225-201-0993, or email us at lsna@lsna.org. If you are calling, please keep trying. Most calls are not getting through to us. As far as we know, most emails are arriving,” says the LSNA on their website, www.lsna.org.
Giving the Alberta government more credibility?
The provincial government continues to “consult” Albertans on more and more topics. A whole government webpage (http://www.gov.ab.ca/home/index.cfm?Page=617) lists a string of “public consultations”, usually highly structured website questionnaires people can go through.
Some critics say that taking part in the process only gives added credibility to government claims of “consulting” though what is actually just a PR exercise designed to mold public opinion.
Others say it’s better to have your say than not.
The “Third Way” health plan and Employment Standards Review are just two of the over half a dozen “consultations” going on currently.
LTC MLAs report that staffing is a critical issue
The three MLA Task Force looking into the crisis in the province’s long-term care facilities says more money has to go into hiring nursing staff in its Seniors Report released on September 7.
The MLAs recommended that funding for long-term care be increased “to ensure that residents receive quality health and personal care services”. Health Minister Iris Evans was quoted in media reports saying as much as $150 million could be coming in government funding for long-term care staffing.”
“Now it’s up to the government to fund adequate staffing to provide decent levels of care for long-term care residents,” says UNA President Heather Smith. “There remains a problem as the proposed “standards” leave a great deal of discretion to long-term care operators,” she said.
The Report notes that: “A shortage in staff has resulted in some residents debilitating more quickly than they would otherwise when they move into long-term care because residents are not getting the therapies, supports and treatments they need.”
“I would translate that as understaffing means residents get sicker and even die for lack of adequate care,” Heather Smith said.
The Task Force said, “The public is not confident that providers are being held accountable, and are especially concerned with private providers. As a result, the public would like detailed operational standards that are easily measurable, (e.g. specific staffing levels and mix of staff).”
“Unfortunately the MLA have NOT recommended clear and measurable standards, the default still appears to be to let the operators decide what level of staffing is needed,” Heather Smith notes.
Albertans have until the end of the month to respond to the recommendations from the Task Force that are available through MLAs and on the web at www.continuingcare.gov.ab.ca.
Hot summer of labour disputes drags on
Many Albertans have spent a lot of their summer on picket lines and would love to have a change – a new contract – for fall. Both the Telus and the CBC employees were locked out by their Employers and UNA nurses have been out in support on their picket lines in many different Alberta centres.
Telus workers continue to have rallies and walk their picket lines with the dispute that continues since Telus locked out BC and Alberta Employees July 22. More than 13,000 phone company Employees have gone with out a raise since 2000. The Telecommunications Workers Union does not report that any talks are underway to reach an agreement. Negotiations did however resume this week for the CBC employees who were locked out on August 15. While several less controversial clauses were signed off, the essential issues about contracting out work and job security for CBC employees remain outstanding.
Lakeside Packer workers in Brooks were set to go on strike in July, but at the last minute the government imposed a Disputes Enquiry Board which required a 60-day cooling off period and forced them into a mediation process. The employer, Tyson Foods apparently has no interest in agreeing to a first contract so it appears likely that the mediation will fail and the workers may be again in a strike position later in September or early October. Unfortunately, the delay in the strike has allowed Lakeside Packers time to fire union activists and cooled off the workers interest considerably.
Number of nurse practitioners growing
A new report released by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) and the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) shows that the number of nurse practitioners in Canada increased by more than 20% from 2003 to 2004. This was an increase of 153, from 725 in 2003 to 878 in 2004. Saskatchewan added the nurse practitioner license last year so that eight provinces and territories now recognize the practitioner qualification.
More than two-thirds (71%) of licensed NPs employed in 2004 self-identified their position as nurse practitioner, 9% as staff nurse or community health nurse, 4% as instructor, professor or educator and 3% as manager.
Nurses concerned about offensive tomato juice ad
Nurses have been expressing concerns about a television ad for a specialty tomato juice product that features a woman suggestively dressed as a “nurse” clad in cap, short skirt and latex gloves. The ad is demeaning to women and perpetuates the old and degrading nurse-as-sex-object stereotype.
This is not just an issue of appropriate text and tastefulness, however. Many nurses have to deal with a good deal of sexual harassment, in part because of this stereotype.
The ad is just the latest example of “shock” advertising where a company strives for notoriety, even offensiveness, to draw attention to the product. They count on a backlash, letters to newspapers, etc. to increase the effectiveness of the ad and profile of the product. Public complaints about the ad work best without mentioning the product name. Mentioning the name just makes their ad work even more.
People concerned about the ad can voice their concern to the company at: Luisa Girotto Head of Corporate Communications Cadbury Beverages Canada, Inc. 200 Matheson Blvd West, Suite 104 Mississauga, ON L5R3L7 Canada. Luisa.girotto@cs-americas.com
On the Light Side
A man rushed into the doctor’s office and shouted, “Doctor! I think I’m shrinking!!”
The doctor calmly responded, “Now, settle down. You’ll just have to be a little patient.”
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