News & Updates

Just hours after Health Minister George Abbott tabled controversial amendments to the Medicare Protection Act on April 8, more than 200 people attended a public talk by physicians and international policy experts about the dangers of continued health care privatization in B.C. Dr. Michael Klein ... physician, researcher and founding member of the Canadian Doctors for Medicare ... reasserted that...

Alberni Valley News Microbiology lab services at West Coast General Hospital (WCGH) are being downsized, and two positions have been eliminated as partial service moves to Nanaimo. Management says its streamlining services, but the president of the Hospital Sciences Association (HSA) says savings should be used to deliver local service. The Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA) said the move is...

'We can't stand still. We can either go back or we can go forward. The choice we make today will decide the future of medicare in Canada.' - Tommy DouglasOttawa (3 Apr. 2008) - The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) has issued two new public education tools as part of its ongoing campaign to defend and expand...

There is still room available in the three-day Steward Training workshop on April 28 ... 30, 2008. Please register as soon as possible if you are interested in attending this workshop. Steward Training:April 28, 29 & 30, 2008 Eligible stewards should print a pre-registration form off the HSA website at http://www.hsabc.org/ (go to Member Services, then Education) and return it...

The Report: April / May 2008 vol.29 num.1 Too tired to work? WorkSafeBC Regulation can provide relief espite well-documented risks, alternating or rotational shiftwork remains a significant part of many HSA members work schedules. This is exacerbated by staffing shortages, resulting in an increase in extra and extended shifts, as well as constantly changing schedules that cycle from days, afternoons...

The Report: April / May 2008 vol.29 num.1 orkload and resulting stress is a chronic problem in HSA workplaces, both in health care and in the social services sector. HSA members know first hand that BC is experiencing a shortage of skilled, highly-trained health care and social services staff. And BC is not alone. In 2005, health science professionals working...

The Report: April / May 2008 vol.29 num.1by LAURA BUSHEIKIN ancouvers Downtown Eastside, known as the -worst postal code in Canada" due to the despairingly high level of drug addiction, homelessness, mental illness, extreme poverty and general social dysfunction experienced by its residents, is ‘the office for HSA member Sandra Boyd. Her clients have both a mental health and addiction...

The Report: April / May 2008 vol.29 num.1 by ANNE LECLERC mployment in a residential care facility can be very rewarding! After working in a 52-bed hospital in northwestern British Columbia for over two decades, I accepted the challenge of working at St. Vincents Langara ... a large urban residential care facility caring for 221 elders. The facility is run...

The Report: April / May 2008 vol.29 num.1 by ALISON HIETANEN Im covered by the health science professionals contract, but I was injured on the job. Currently, I am on an accepted long term disability claim and receiving monthly benefits. I now feel well enough to try returning to work. What steps should I take? Do I have to return...

The Report: April / May 2008 vol.29 num.1 by REID JOHNSON year ago, delegates to HSAs convention gave me a mandate to lead your union into the future. On the eve of the unions 37th convention, Ive taken this opportunity to look back at the past year and consider what I, and your board of directors, have done collectively to...