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"The public needs to connect the dots between the broken provincial revenue system and the broken Misericordia Hospital." — Michael Parker, HSAA Vice-President Human Resources.
Edmonton (31 July 2014) — The Health Sciences Association of Alberta (HSAA/NUPGE) represents more than 400 front-line health care staff at the Misericordia Hospital, working in more than 30 disciplines, ranging from audiologists, to laboratory technologists, to nuclear medicine technologists and pharmacy technicians. These people are health-care experts and we need to hear what they are saying.
Health care employees raise concerns about the appalling conditions at Misericordia Hospital
HSAA/NUPGE members are raising the alarm about the appalling conditions at the Misericordia. "In the short term, immediate maintenance and repairs must be carried out," says Michael Parker, HSAA Vice-President Human Resources.
"In the longer term, planning needs to begin to build a new hospital right away, preferably on the site of the Misericordia. One of the reasons the hospital is in such a state of disrepair is due to the shelving of plans in 2008 for a $100-million replacement tower at the Misericordia," he says.
Delaying that work means the cost of building a new facility will have gone up considerably and considerable amounts of money has been spent on temporary solutions over the years.
Connecting the dots between the broken Alberta revenue system and the impact on public services, like Misericordia
"The public needs to connect the dots between the broken provincial revenue system and the broken Misericordia Hospital," says Parker. "There is an infrastructure deficit affecting health-care facilities across Alberta. A total of $637 million needs to be spent at more than 240 hospitals, care clinics and health-care facilities."
Parker continues, "When government funding rises and falls like a rollercoaster with the price of a barrel of oil, vital programs and vital infrastructure spending are cut during the lean times, only to have to spend much more later trying to catch up. This is not a wise way to manage the finances of Alberta's health-care system."
P3 hospital not recommended
Parker says that when the government finally gets around to building the new hospital that Edmonton and Alberta so badly needs, let’s be smart and not use the P3 model.
"Research shows that P3s carry a significant risk for taxpayers while also carrying higher costs than traditional government financing," he says. "The Alberta government’s recent analysis of using P3s for school construction found it was not in the interest of Albertans and that model was dropped."
Sign the petition to help make the new hospital a reality
A petition is circulating to put pressure on the government to take action on Misericordia hospital quickly. Add your name to it today!
As Parker says, "The health of many Albertans depends on it."
NUPGE
The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE