AHS approach to cost cutting bad for health care, AUPE president says
EDMONTON – The Alberta Health Services plan announced this afternoon to save money by reducing staff numbers is not a good prescription for putting patients first, says the president of the province’s largest union.
“This approach contrasts poorly with the one taken by the government at Finance Minister Iris Evans’ news conference this morning, in which she said Premier Ed Stelmach has made it very clear he doesn’t want to see a reduction in staff,” said Alberta Union of Provincial Employees President Doug Knight.
“It is essential for the Alberta government to maintain the public services that Albertans count on every day through the recession, and this includes full public health care,” Knight said.
At this morning’s news conference, the government made it clear it understands that Alberta’s population continues to grow and with it the demand for public services, Knight said.
“This is as true in health care as it is for family and children’s services, environmental protection, public safety, infrastructure development and other programs carried out by direct employees of the province,” he said.
However, at AHS President and Chief Executive Stephen Duckett’s news conference this afternoon, Dr. Duckett made it clear the publicly operated province-wide health care board will look to workforce reductions to save money because 65 to 70 per cent of the AHS budget is related to human resources.
“This is not the right approach,” said Knight. “Alberta Health Services needs to recognize, as the premier and finance minister indicated they do, that the pressures on the health care system are not going to diminish, that Alberta is in line for a stronger recovery from the recession than other provinces, and that it can expect more newcomers from other provinces.
Knight noted that of the 70 per cent of the AHS budget earmarked for human resources, less than 20 per cent goes to AUPE members.
“Cutting jobs and programs like those at Alberta Hospital Edmonton will both make the effects of the recession worse and do real harm to key public programs that benefit all Albertans in very important ways,” Knight said.
“We’re glad that the government has signaled it does not intend to further hurt the public service through wholesale staff reductions,” he said. “We urge the premier to make it clear now that the same thing applies to our public health care system.”
Any government policies that increase unemployment in Alberta are not going to help the province weather the recession, Knight said. “We require a steady hand on the wheel until resource prices recover, which they inevitably will.”
“We also need to remember that the last time the government cut jobs in public service and health care, it took the system more than a decade to recover. We do not need to have that happen again,” Knight concluded.
AUPE represents approximately 33,000 employees of Alberta Health Services at public facilities throughout Alberta, as well as more than 21,000 direct employees of the provincial government.
For more information, contact:
Doug Knight, President, AUPE, 780-930-3301 or 780-265-6655 (cellular phone)
David Climenhaga, Communications Director, AUPE, 780-930-3311 or 780-717-2943 (cellular phone)