2010: News Archive

Vancouver Sun By Pamela Fayerman, Rob Shaw and Richard Watts Sources: Canwest News Service and Times Colonist The provincial government is changing the way it funds B.C.'s largest hospitals, a move health officials hope will lead to faster, better treatment. The new system will provide financial incentives to those hospitals that demonstrate they can treat more patients quickly and cost-effectively...

Fight cuts to health and social services Join HSA President Reid Johnson at a rally on Saturday April 10 to fight recent government cuts ... including cuts to arts and culture funding, seniors services, early childhood education and infant development, mental health and addictions services, supports for the disabled, and an array of social services. The Coalition to Build a...

The expiry of the 2006 ... 2010 Health Science Professionals collective agreement on March 31, 2010 was marked with continued discussion between the Health Science Professionals Bargaining Association and Health Employers Association of BC about the principles that will be used for a thoughtful discussion in negotiating a collective agreement that protects quality health care and values the work of...

(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...

Vancouver Sun By Vaughan Palmer The B.C. Liberals are celebrating the success to date of their "net zero mandate" for contract negotiation as a growing number of public sector unions are settling for two-year deals at no additional cost to the taxpayer. The hold-the-line mandate looked suspect when it was announced last September. The Liberals were drawing the line when...

The Report: April 2010 vol.31 num.2 ITS BEEN ALMOST A YEAR SINCE THE BC GOVERNMENT WON AN ELECTION PROMISING TO PROTECT HEALTH CARE. INSTEAD, THEY MADE $360 MILLION IN CUTS. HERE ARE JUST SOME OF THE CUTS ANNOUNCED TO DATE, AND THERE IS STILL MORE TO COME. MENTAL HEALTH AND ADDICTIONS cut funding for Atlas Youth Supported Recovery in Terrace...

The Report: April 2010 vol.31 num.2 BY CAROLE RIVIERE MORE THAN A THIRD of Canadian seniors receiving public pensions live on less than $11,000 a year: well below the poverty line. HSA member Brigid Kemp has first-hand knowledge about the hardship represented by this number and the urgent need for pension reform. She has worked for several years with the...

The Report: April 2010 vol.31 num.2 BY CAROL RIVIERE DO BCS POLITICAL REPRESENTATIVES HAVE ANY IDEA who HSA is and what we do? Will they weigh our concerns in balance with those of many other groups who vie for the attention and support of the MLAs who craft the laws we all live by? Thanks to a dedicated group of...

The Report: April 2010 vol.31 num.2 BY LAURA BUSHEIKIN SHEILA KERR DIDNT NEED the services of a career counsellor to choose her professional path. In fact, she never even had time to wonder what she wanted to be when she grew up. At the age of 14, her life experience led her to a volunteer position at the Living Positive...

The Report: April 2010 vol.31 num.2 THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT has settled on a disturbingly ironic tone in recent announcements. It began a few months ago, on December 1, which marks World AIDS Day. While local and national governments around the world recognized this date by reaffirming their commitment to continue the fight against HIV and AIDS, BCs government chose this...