AS DIETITIAN SANDRA HOMENUK heads into retirement, shes pleased to see that the profession shes leaving looks very, very different than the one she entered 40 years ago.
-I started working in the fall of 1970," says Homenuk, who retired from her position as Dietetics Practice Leader at BC Womens and Childrens Hospital on July 29th. -It was a time when there were kitchen maids, not kitchen aids."
THE 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 dignity, and the power of ordinary people to make a difference in the face of the searing tragedy that is the AIDS/HIV epidemic in Africa.
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.
WITH A TOUGH ROUND OF BARGAINING ONLY JUST BEGUN, and in the face of short-sighted provincial cuts, delegates gathered at the Hotel Vancouver to grapple with the issues underlying this years theme: a strong union, its members an essential part of the changing and modern health care system, standing up for the patients they care for every day.
PLENARY - THURSDAY, APRIL 15
BY DAVID FAIREY, KATHY McLENNAN AND JEANNE MEYERS
HSPBAS CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM WAS FIRST DESIGNED SOME 40 YEARS AGO.
TODAY, MANY EMPLOYEES AND EMPLOYERS HAVE DIFFICULTY WITH A SYSTEM DESIGNED FOR A SMALLER AND LESS COMPLEX BARGAINING UNIT.
DELEGATES TO THE NOVEMBER BARGAINING PROPOSAL CONFERENCE DIRECTED HSA TO MODERNIZE THE CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM IN CURRENT CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS.
THAT WORK HAS NOW BEGUN.
PATIENTS MUST ALWAYS BE TOP PRIORITY FOR INNOVATIONS IN HEALTH CARE
HEALTH MINISTER KEVIN FALCON has announced pilot programs for shifting hospitals to funding based on the number of patients they treat.
HSA President Reid Johnson says he welcomes innovative changes in the delivery of health care, but will be watching as the patient-focused funding initiative unfolds.
-Theres no question our health care system needs to be innovative and responsive," Johnson said.
AS ANYONE WHO HAS OBSERVED a group child care situation knows, there are always children who dont fit in. Kids who sit alone in a corner, kids who disrupt the group, kids the others avoid or pick on, kids the supervisor doesnt know how to handle, and kids who end up getting pulled from the program, leaving their parents, and themselves, in the lurch.
HSA member Christine Ambrose is there to help these children.
FOR THE PAST SEVERAL YEARS, we have been working as a union to raise the profile of health science professionals. We've used many tools: advertising campaigns, sponsorship of community events like Run for the Cure, our constituency liaison program, our excellent relationships with professional associations.
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
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 South Okanagan Women in Need Society (SOWINS). Most of her work has been with senior women over age 50 who have been in abusive relationships.
