Health Science Professionals

Consolidations: an overviewLast spring, Lower Mainland health employers issued a notice to HSA members working in diagnostic imaging: services throughout the Lower Mainland would be consolidated region-wide. The employers said their objective was to reduce the diagnostic imaging budget by 10 per cent. Employers have since announced plans to consolidate five other service areas, with the aim of cutting up...

Fraser Health Authority and union representatives are set to resume negotiations concerning the employers plans to consolidate hospital and community-based pharmacy services across the Lower Mainland. The discussions will focus on the development of a labour adjustment plan that deals with issues such as employment transfer and a consolidated seniority list for all pharmacists in the Lower Mainland.The consolidation plan...

Since January 10 of this year, the union has met with Providence on three occasions to negotiate a labour adjustment agreement. Three more meetings are scheduled. The intent of these meetings is to negotiate a labour adjustment agreement that mitigates the impacts of the employers proposed consolidation structure for our members working in Health Information Management. HSA is concerned that...

NEWS RELEASE: Yesterday, Royal Inland Hospital announced a radical cut in outpatient x-ray services, with no consultation with the community. The hospitals x-ray technologists are raising the alarm that Royal Inland Hospital is putting patient services at risk. -Royal Inland announced yesterday that starting Sunday, patients should no longer come to the hospital for routine outpatient x-rays," said Reid Johnson...

Members of the Health Science Professionals Bargaining Association have voted to accept the terms of collective agreement terms reached in late December. -There is no question that the frustration felt by the bargaining committee, which was forced to deal with a government-imposed ‘net-zero mandate, was also felt by health science professionals who voted on the tentative agreement," said HSA President...

Final returns from all the constituent unions in the Health Science Professionals Bargaining Association will be received March 1. The result of the vote will be released March 2, 2011.

The Health Sciences Association has developed a Q&A of frequently-asked questions regarding Health Information Management Lower Mainland consolidation. Please see the Q&A here: Q&A on Lower Mainland Health Information Management consolidation HSAs committee members on Health Information Management consolidation are as follows: Rav Dhillon, Health Information Management, Richmond General Hospital, Vancouver Coastal Health Karen Hatchwell, Health Information Management, Surrey Memorial...

BCs Interior Health Authority is paying thousands of dollars in additional costs to recruit ultrasound technologists from private, for-profit clinics to work in IHA hospitals because the government has refused to address a critical shortage of ultrasound technologists in BC, Reid Johnson, President of the Health Sciences Association of BC said today. -The governments failure to have an effective recruitment...

HSA members working throughout the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley received notice Jan 10, 2011 of a region-wide plan to consolidate health information management services in the Lower Mainland. Important meetings to discuss how the consolidation plan may affect the jobs of HSA members working in health information management were held this week. Members who did not have an opportunity...

Details of the tentative agreement between the Health Science Professionals Bargaining Association and Health Employers Association of BC reached last month are now available on the HSA website at www.hsabc.org.The Report to Members on the Proposed Terms of Settlement details the changes to the agreement, and urges members to vote YES in favour of the agreement at ratification meetings starting...