Media Release

Advocates working to protect B.C.s universal public health care system are troubled by recent statements made by newly-appointed health minister Mike de Jong, hinting at a bigger role for theprivate sector in health care delivery.Speaking to media during his first day on the job, de Jong argued that patients do not care who owns the health care facility or employs...

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...

WorkSafeBC has issued nine separate orders at two Victoria-area mental health facilities criticizing the failure of Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA) to protect the safety of staff. -This is a staggering number of WorkSafeBC orders issued against one employer," said HSA President Reid Johnson. Johnson, who has worked on psychiatric wards as a social worker, said unstable psychiatric patients are...

Less than a week after a sudden announcement to emergency room staff, Vancouver General Hospital has already begun dismantling a much-needed Domestic Violence Program that has been serving the community for 18 years. The outpatient Domestic Violence Program serves 20-25 clients per week, providing counselling for patients experiencing violent relationships. The program also provides support, education and referrals for child...

Members of the Health Sciences Association, the health care union that represents health sciences professionals who deliver diagnosis, treatment and recovery in BCs hospitals and communities, is meeting this weekend at its 39th annual convention in Vancouver. BC Federation of Labour President Jim Sinclair told delegates Friday that it is important to fight for public health care, because the private...

Reid Johnson, President of the Health Sciences Association, welcomes innovative changes in the delivery of health care and will be watching as the patient-focused funding initiative unveiled by Health Minister Kevin Falcon yesterday unfolds. HSA is the union that represents the health science professionals on the modern health care team, delivering critical diagnostic, clinical and rehabilitation services in BC hospitals...

(VANCOUVER) - Reid Johnson, President of the Health Sciences Association, and Debra McPherson, President of the BC Nurses Union, are calling on WorkSafe BC to immediately order VIHA to protect staff at Eric Martin Pavilion, the mental health facility at Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria. The demand for action follows a series of violent assaults on staff by a patient...

In spite of a budget speech that boasts a commitment to health care, British Columbians should brace themselves for another round of cuts to health care services around the province, Reid Johnson, President of the Health Sciences Association of BC said in response to the provincial budget released today. -With a status quo budget for health care, we know that...

The Health Sciences Association of BC, the union that represents more 15,000 health science professionals who deliver the diagnostic, clinical and rehabilitation services in BCs hospitals and communities, is sounding the alarm about the provincial governments broken promise to protect health care services. In an intensive province-wide radio campaign, HSA blows the whistle on the cuts to health services...

Despite a province-wide protest by parents against the elimination of specialized treatment for severely autistic children, 43 therapists were issued lay-off notice Friday at Queen Alexandra Centre for Children on Vancouver Island. The therapists are members of the Health Sciences Association of BC, the union that represents 16,000 health science professionals including autism intervention specialists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech language...