From June 20 to Sept. 28, a federal advisory council hosted public consultations to inform recommendations on the establishment of a national Pharmacare plan.  As momentum builds for a national program, HSA members face an historic opportunity to advocate for a plan rooted in principles of fairness, accessibility, and universality. As the advisory council prepares its recommendations, our members of parliament must continue to hear from Canadians regarding the importance of a universal Pharmacare program.  

The Political Action Committee would like to inform you of an exciting learning opportunity offered through the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC).

The federal Advisory Council on the Implementation of National Pharmacare has opened up public consultations on a national Pharmacare plan, with the launch of an online portal.

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HSA REPORT MAGAZINE, JUNE 2018

How privately-funded health care hurts us

HSA REPORT MAGAZINE, JUNE 2018

President's Report, Val Avery

HSA members have known for a quite some time what works and what doesn’t when it comes to the delivery of quality health care, and our work in promoting policy recommendations has been grounded in this expertise. We are pleased to see that many of our recommendations are now coming to fruition.

Periods are a fact of life. Monthly menstruation products are a necessity. And nobody should have to pick between feeding their  family and being able to afford basic hygiene products. Yet far too many people – especially those living in poverty – simply can’t afford them.

HSA welcomes today’s announcement that government will fund 37,000 more MRI scans in the public system during the coming year, compared to last year.  

BC has had the longest wait times for MRI in the country for several years, resulting in many patients paying for medically necessary scans at private clinics.  Some of these patients then use these scans to jump the queue to obtain surgery or other treatment in the public system, meaning those already on public wait lists for treatment wait longer.

HSA welcomes the provincial government’s new four-part surgical strategy announced today aimed at reducing wait times for surgery around the province.

The initial phase of the strategy includes funding for an additional 4,000 hip and knee replacements in the coming year – an increase of 34 per cent – with long-term funding to continue increasing the number of surgeries in future years.

Periods are a fact of life and menstruation products are a necessity. Nobody should have to pick between feeding their family and being able to afford basic hygiene products. Yet far too many people – especially those living in poverty – simply can’t afford them.

“We know it is a struggle for food banks and community groups to collect menstruation products. Despite the need, donations are low. We wanted to do something about this,” says HSA President Val Avery.

Health Sciences Association of BC says today’s provincial budget makes critical social investments that will strengthen public services and make life more affordable for all British Columbians.

HSA represents 18,000 highly trained specialists working in diagnostic MRI, sonography and lab testing, physiotherapy, social work, radiation therapy, pharmacy, early childhood development and many other health science and social service professions.