Our members are already facing stretched workloads trying to deal with patients having greater health needs than ever before,” said Jessome. “No additional funding will make the situation in our health facilities even worse, especially in light of rising costs and the aging population.”
Halifax (7 Mar. 2011) - “Today’s health funding announcement will affect patient care,” according to NSGEU President Joan Jessome. She was responding to the government announcement that District Health Authorities (DHA) and the IWK Health Centre will have to manage with the same amount of funding this year as they had last year.
“I am disappointed with the government’s decision. Even the Minister of Health says it will be challenging. Our members are already facing stretched workloads trying to deal with patients having greater health needs than ever before,” said Jessome. “No additional funding will make the situation in our health facilities even worse, especially in light of rising costs and the aging population.”
Jessome explained that, “This funding announcement will also adversely affect health care negotiations. We don’t yet have a single new contract in health care and this announcement, combined with forcing DHAs to cover all the costs of negotiated settlements, will make it that much harder.”
“All in all, I don’t think the government can claim it is protecting health care,” concluded Jessome. “What this announcement will mean is watered-down services, growing gaps in vital services, and maybe even job losses. This isn’t a time to sacrifice care on the backs of patients and front-line health care providers in the name of balancing budgets.”
NUPGE
The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE
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