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Patients must always be the top priority in innovative and changing health care

April 13, 2010
Reid Johnson, President of the Health Sciences Association, welcomes innovative changes in the delivery of health care and will be watching as the patient-focused funding initiative unveiled by Health Minister Kevin Falcon yesterday unfolds. HSA is the union that represents the health science professionals on the modern health care team, delivering critical diagnostic, clinical and rehabilitation services in BC hospitals. -Theres no question our health care system needs to be innovative and responsive," Johnson said.

WorkSafe BC must order VIHA to provide safe workplaces in aftermath of violent assaults against psychiatric nurses

April 8, 2010
(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 with severe mental illness. VIHAs cuts to psychiatric services and their inaction on improving hospital safety leave patients, staff and the wider community vulnerable to violence. 

Health science professionals talks focus on principles for job evaluation review to reflect the modern health care team

April 8, 2010
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 health science professionals.

Join HSA President Reid Johnson at rally on Saturday

April 8, 2010
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.

Labour landmines remain

April 2, 2010
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 they were already sliding downward in the polls, thanks to the post-election shocker of the harmonized sales tax.

Rally April 10: Fight cuts to health and social services

April 1, 2010
The Coalition to Build a Better BC will hold a rally 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.

Budget announcements a lesson in irony

April 1, 2010
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 very day to announce plans to do exactly the opposite by cutting funds to community based HIV and AIDS organizations including AIDS Vancouver.

Helping people back from the edge

April 1, 2010
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 Resource Centre in Kelowna, and shes been there ever since.

Taking your stories to Victoria

April 1, 2010
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 HSA volunteers, the answer is ‘yes.

Federal pension reform urgently needed

April 1, 2010
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 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.

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