The Report

The Report: December 2010 vol.31 num.6 HSA NEGOTIATES AGREEMENT ALLOWING SIGNIFICANT CHANGES WITHOUT LAYOFFS EARLIER THIS YEAR, when Lower Mainland health authorities announced their intentions to consolidate medical imaging services, the potential for signficant layoffs and disruption in patient services was a major concern. -We wanted to protect our members and maintain quality services for our patients," said HSA President...

The Report: December 2010 vol.31 num.6 How are HSA members jobs being affected by the amalgamation? In total, approximately 80 positions throughout the Lower Mainland have been affected. The restructuring will result in an overall reduction of 40 supervisory positions. In addition, the opening of the Surrey Outpatient Centre will result in 30 new positions. The Employer is pursuing the...

The Report: December 2010 vol.31 num.6 LIKE MOST BRITISH COLUMBIANS, I was both surprised, and not surprised, by Gordon Campbells resignation. Surprised by the exact timing; only a week earlier. Mr. Campbell had re-arranged his cabinet, hired a new chief of staff and press secretary, and spent $250,000 of your money on a prime-time TV broadcast announcing he planned to...

0 The Report: December 2010 vol.31 num.6 TILLY HISCOCK TAKES CARE OF HEARTS ... both literally and metaphorically. As a Pacemaker Technologist at Burnaby Hospital, she sees patients once or twice a year to make sure their pacemakers are functioning properly. So in a way, her job revolves around this life-saving battery-operated biomedical device that keeps hearts beating steadily. But...

The Report: December 2010 vol.31 num.6 WHEN TRINA NGUYEN ACCEPTED A POSITION as pharmacist at Surrey Memorial Hospital in 2006, she was definitely choosing the path less travelled ... at least, less travelled by recent graduates of university pharmacy programs. -Less than 10 per cent of pharmacy graduates go into hospitals. We are not trained for this in school; we...

The Report: October 2010 vol.31 num.5 THIS PAST SEPTEMBER 16 marked a sad anniversary for children with special needs in this province. Last year on this date, BCs Children and Family Development Minister Mary Polak announced funding cuts of more than $3 million for autism services for children under age six. As a result of this decision, Victorias Queen Alexandra...

The Report: October 2010 vol.31 num.5 MEDICAL LABORATORY TECHNOLOGIST Kylah Sorenson has got her career off to an excellent start by attaining a perfect GPA of 4.33, the highest mark in her graduating class at the College of New Caledonia in Prince George. Even more gratifying, she has been awarded a prestigious Governor General's bronze medal for academic achievement. Sorenson...

The Report: October 2010 vol.31 num.5 DELEGATES TO THE 2010 HSA CONVENTION in Vancouver asked a number of questions about last year's outbreak of novel H1N1 influenza strain; why certain decisions were made, and what we've learned to help us prepare for the next outbreak. Why weren't cardiology technologists considered frontline workers and immunized along with nurses and doctors? Early...

The Report: August 2010 vol.31 num.4 SUMMER IS FINALLY HERE, and while I hope that all of you have an opportunity to slow things down and spend time with family, here at HSA were moving forward on several fronts. Our ad campaign on waitlists, featured on the cover of this edition, wound down in June after reaching countless British Columbians...

The Report: August 2010 vol.31 num.4THE TINY BEADED FIGURE HSA member JoanneSchwartz wears on her lanyard every day at workcould be dismissed as just a colourful trinket.However, for Schwartz and for over 100 SouthAfrican women infected with HIV, along withtheir families, this ornament has more valuethan the most luxurious of necklaces. In fact, it represents survival, health, financial security, human...