Under-funding, lack of staffing contributed to infection control crisis
EDMONTON – The infection-control crisis in Alberta’s hospitals is the result of years of financial cutbacks and neglect by governments and health regions, says the president of Alberta’s largest health care union.
Alberta Union of Provincial Employees President Doug Knight called on Albertans to let their elected representatives know about it when they encounter unhygienic conditions in health care facilities.
Time and again, said Knight, AUPE members like those at the St. Joseph’s General Hospital in Vegreville have called for adequate and appropriate funding to maintain properly staffed health care facilities.
“AUPE has been telling Alberta governments for years that this is a problem,” Knight said today.
Instead, he said, since the funding crisis of the mid-1990s, which resulted from decisions made by the government, the health care system has been consistently under-funded and under-staffed.
Knight noted that the provincial government’s appointment late last week of a new management board at the Vegreville hospital to oversee infection control procedures and protect patients there does not address the fundamental problem of adequate funding that faces health care facilities province-wide.
Until the recent province-wide labour shortage, Knight added, “health region administrators have looked at cutting back housekeeping jobs, or contracting out housekeeping and dietary work, as ways to control costs in the face of under-funding.
“It’s clear now that these were not wise decisions,” he said. “Obviously, cleanliness is a key part of infection control in medical facilities, and therefore not a place where corners should be cut by managers or governments.
In addition, treating hospital cleaning staff as important and valued members of the health care team helps effectively control infections, Knight said.
Knight cited widely reported comments by the head of Taiwan’s Centre for Disease Control that contracting out of hospital cleaning, laundry and nursing aide services contributed to that country’s deadly outbreak of SARS in 2003 because contract employees’ work could not be effectively monitored or managed by hospitals.
Albertans who go to hospitals and other medical facilities should take a good look at the state of these facilities’ cleanliness and tell their MLAs if they see problems, Knight advised. “If you have to be in an Alberta hospital, and the facility has not been adequately cleaned, call the Minister of Health and your MLA, let them know and ask them what they’re going to do about it!”
Knight noted that any elected provincial official may be reached from anywhere in Alberta by calling the province’s toll-free RITE number, 310-0000.
“We’re all responsible for the safety of our health care facilities,” he said. “We shouldn’t be shy about demanding that problems be addressed.”
Because of Alberta’s recent population and economic growth, the province now has both a pressing need and the revenue to fix these problems, Knight added.
“Now is the time to introduce long-term infection control measures — including plans to properly staff health facilities — to address the health needs of Albertans,” he concluded.
For more information, call:
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)