AUPE President speaks against Alberta Hospital bed closures at Fort Saskatchewan health care rally
FORT SASKATCHEWAN – Doug Knight, President of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, spoke out against bed closures at Alberta Hospital Edmonton and other health facilities across Alberta during a lunch-hour health care rally attended by more than 500 people in Ft. Saskatchewan today.
“The closure of acute mental health care beds at Alberta Hospital and other health facilities affects the residents of Ft. Saskatchewan just as much as it does the citizens of Edmonton and every other community in this province,” Knight said.
“The government is undertaking a policy to remove legislated health services from public health facilities and move them into the hands of private providers. Albertans didn’t vote for that, and they’re speaking out today to let the government know that they’re totally opposed to it,” said Knight.
About 140 AUPE members travelled to the rally to speak out against the bed closures taking place in Edmonton and across the province. The event was organized by David Eggen, Executive Director of the Friends of Medicare. Bev Dick, Vice President of UNA also spoke about the “Wrong Way” campaign.
“I hope Premier Stelmach takes the advice of B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell, who he was meeting with today, and who called deinstitutionalization a 'failed experiment.’,” Knight said.
Knight also criticized the government’s plan to “mothball” 300 acute beds across the province.
they say they are moving out long term care patients to more appropriate beds to free up space for those on gurney’s in hallways, but they admit they are not going to staff those beds. Considering current staff levels, where are the staff going to come from if they are required for a pandemic outbreak?” Knight asked
“They say they’re taking acute beds out of the system and putting them on hold in case of a H1N1 outbreak, but they’re not staffing those beds,” he added.
“If the outbreak comes, who’s going to take care of the patients? We need more staff in our hospitals not less.”
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For more information contact:
Doug Knight, President, AUPE – 780-930-3301 or 780-265-6655 (cellular phone)
Mark Wells, Communications Officer, AUPE– 780-930-3406 or 780-904-0688 (cellular phone)