EDMONTON – Alberta Union of Provincial Employees President Dan MacLennan says a warning by the East Central Health Region this week is more cause for deep concern about the state of health sector financing in Alberta.

"Last week we had the CEO of the Chinook Health Region telling employees in a memorandum that cuts in service and staff layoffs were certain because of the level of government financing," MacLennan said.

"This week we have a statement from the Chair of the East Central Health board warning that the level of funding has the board seriously concerned about its ability to sustain services," he added.

"Albertans have been promised repeatedly that changes in health financing will not result in a deteriorating health care system, yet that is what these health region officials are telling us. We should be very concerned about what this means."

MacLennan said it’s time for the province to step in and reassess the level of funding going to regions.

"On a few issues that have come up since the budget, the government has shown it is prepared to reassess its spending priorities and consider changes," said MacLennan.

"A similar approach needs to be taken with health financing."

In the latest statement from a health region, East Central Health Board Chair Ed Anderson said in a news release that the region is facing a $7-million shortfall. He said the funding for the region announced by the province "will present significant challenges for the region to maintain current levels of service.

"East Central Health will be reviewing the fullest range of options to adjust to the shortfall," Anderson stated in the release. "Our board’s major concern is sustainability of services."

Anderson also said that discussions with other health regions had revealed "that many have similar fiscal challenges."

MacLennan said the regions must not use funding levels as an excuse to try to take increasing costs for some health care personnel out of the pockets of others.

"Big pay increases for nurses and doctors have to be properly budgeted," he said. "They can’t be agreed to and then dumped on the regions without being accounted for in the funding that comes to those regions."

MacLennan also said it is important to remember that all members of the health system are part of a team, and must be treated in a comparable fashion.

"We are in negotiations now on behalf of about 19,000 employees in the health sector," MacLennan said. "The key issues now should be for every member of the heath care team to be treated fairly, and for the long term needs of the system to keep good people in all job categories be kept in mind.

"Simple fairness and society’s expectation that the health system will operate smoothly demands that we not hand huge raises to some groups of employees and take it out of other groups," he said.

Albertans everywhere need to make it clear to their MLAs that cutbacks in service – and layoffs that will inevitably result in cuts in service – are not acceptable, MacLennan said.


For more information, contact:
Dan MacLennan, President, AUPE, 780-930-3301 or 780-910-8392 (cellular phone)
David Climenhaga, Communications Director, AUPE, 780-930-3311 or 780-717-2943 (cellular phone)

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