News

Privatization & profiteering continues as K-Bro is awarded sole contract for laundry & linen services in Alberta

April 27, 2021 4:55 PM

April 27, 2021
EDMONTON

Privatization & profiteering continues as K-Bro is awarded sole contract for laundry & linen services in Alberta
Today, K-Bro Linen Inc. announced that they had been named the successful bidders for the Request for Proposals put out by Alberta Health Services in October 2020. They will become the sole providers of laundry services for AHS across the province of Alberta. While this news comes as no surprise, it is a disappointing indication that this government is bent on perpetuating privatization experiments within our public health care system.
 
Read more
Share

FOM joins Canada-wide call for national LTC standards amid COVID-19 deaths

April 27, 2021 9:00 AM

April 27, 2021
EDMONTON

Friends of Medicare joins Canada-wide call for national long-term care standards amid COVID-19 deaths

Today Friends of Medicare joins provincial and territorial Health Coalitions from across the country, Canadians 4 LTC, advocates, family members, and seniors for a National Day of Action for Long-Term Care Standards. All across Canada, we will be virtually protesting the failure of our federal and provincial governments to set national standards for long-term care. The scale of suffering and preventable death in Canada’s long-term care homes throughout the pandemic has precipitated a moral obligation for meaningful change. However, our political leaders have failed to lead.

Read more
Share

Auditor General’s report sets a clear path to improve wait times via public solutions, not private expansion

April 23, 2021 2:29 PM

April 23, 2021
EDMONTON

Auditor General’s report sets a clear path to improve wait times via public solutions, not private expansion

The Auditor General’s report, Alberta Health Services Use of Publicly Funded CT & MRI Services, released on April 22nd, shows clearly that AHS has lost control of this important part of our health care system.

The recommendations made by the Auditor General made it clear that AHS and government can, if they choose, utilize unused capacity in public hospital operating rooms and diagnostics, organize access to care more effectively, scale up proven innovations in the public system, and ramp up capacity to improve access to care. Wait list, equity, and timeliness issues were clearly laid out and solutions provided. If unnecessary testing was curtailed, as has been started with MRIs in some provinces, funds could be redirected to needed care elsewhere in our public health care system. Better wait list management, improvements in primary care, and proven innovations in the public system have made a dramatic difference where they have been implemented.

Read more
Share

Bill 70 prioritizes the long-term care industry over the lives of Albertans

April 22, 2021 4:39 PM

April 22, 2021
EDMONTON

Bill 70 prioritizes the long-term care industry over the lives of Albertans

Bill 70: COVID-19 Related Measures Act, introduced today, intends to ensure legal protection for health services facilities—including continuing care operators—facing lawsuits over illness or death due to exposure to COVID-19. If passed, Bill 70 will prevent families from being able to seek answers and hold care homes responsible for negligence of their loved ones. 

Read more
Share

Seniors Advocate Act is much-needed move towards improving seniors’ care in Alberta

April 20, 2021 12:12 PM

April 20, 2021
EDMONTON

Seniors Advocate Act is much-needed move towards improving seniors’ care in Alberta
Today the Standing Committee on Private Bills and Private Members' Public Bills deliberated Bill 215: the Seniors Advocate Act, introduced by MLA Lori Sigurdson, critic for Seniors and Housing. An independent seniors advocate, like that in British Columbia, would serve as an independent officer of the legislature to help seniors navigate services, provide policy recommendations to the government, and conduct reviews on service providers to ensure seniors’ needs are met. 
 
Read more
Share

Government continues to exploit pandemic surgery backlog to expand role of private care

April 14, 2021 1:30 PM

EDMONTON
April 14, 2021

Government continues to exploit pandemic surgery backlog to expand role of private care

Yesterday, Alberta Health Services released a Request for Proposals (RFP) for ophthalmology chartered surgical facilities. The RFP is set to close mid-May 2021, and a contract will likely be awarded in fall 2021. While Albertans are trepidatiously looking towards the light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel, this government is barreling forward with their agenda of privatizing the very public health care system that we have all relied on throughout this pandemic.

Read more
Share

Health Minister's recognition of National Medical Laboratory Week falls flat

April 12, 2021 1:10 PM

EDMONTON
April 12, 2021

Health Minister's recognition of National Medical Laboratory Week falls flat

On a Sunday afternoon, Health Minister Tyler Shandro released a statement in recognition of National Laboratory Week. In his statement, he highlighted the role that medical laboratory professionals have played during this pandemic as an integral part of the province’s COVID-19 response. He encouraged Albertans to “reach out and thank a medical laboratory professional for their untold contributions in building a strong health system." But despite these empty platitudes, the minister and this government continue to move forward with the privatization of our lab services. 

Read more
Share

The UCP government pays $3M to high priced consultants to repackage and force their privatization agenda

March 29, 2021 10:02 AM
March 26, 2021
EDMONTON

The UCP government pays $3M to high priced consultants to repackage and force their privatization agenda
In July 2020, the UCP passed Bill 30: The Health Statutes Amendment Act, provincial legislation that proposes to cut approval times required for private surgical facilities. Shortly after, the government announced their intention to establish a "Health Contracting Secretariat," to build the health care delivery market and reduce barriers to market entry for larger corporate players.
Read more
Share

Advocates representing 1M+ Canadians call for national standards to improve quality, accountability & take profit out of LTC

March 22, 2021 9:38 AM

March 22, 2021 

Advocates representing more than 1 million Canadians call for national standards to improve quality, accountability and take profit out of long-term care

Edmonton/Across Canada – Today, advocates representing more than a million Canadians came together to demand that the federal government and provinces work together to establish national standards for long-term residential care. The groups released a legal opinion setting out a proposal for a commitment from the federal government to ongoing funding for long-term care with clear criteria requiring the provinces to improve quality, accountability and take profit out of seniors’ care.
 

Read more
Share

Commemoration of one year anniversary of COVID-19 shows disproportionate toll pandemic has taken on AB’s seniors

March 11, 2021 12:00 PM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 11, 2021

Commemoration of the one year anniversary of COVID-19 shows the disproportionate toll the pandemic has taken on Alberta’s seniors 

EDMONTON - March 11, 2021 marks the one year anniversary of the declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic, and seniors groups, labour groups, and advocacy groups are gathering outside of the Federal Building at the Legislature to install an visual representation of the lives we have lost to COVID-19, especially those of Alberta’s seniors who have been disproportionately affected. The visual will be a collection of roses, made by Erin Alyward, each one colour coded to show the age of the person we lost. The advocates and activists will also be joined by members of Alberta Arts Action Group, a group which blends arts and activism, who will sing and recite poetry as we mark this solemn occasion. 
 
Read more
Share
Sign in with Facebook Sign in with Twitter Sign in with Email
Subscribe with RSS