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“If this is a signal of a cuts-and-privatization agenda, they need to prepare for the fight of their life." ― Mike Parker, HSAA President
Calgary (28 Oct. 2019) ― Health Sciences Association of Alberta (HSAA/NUPGE) President, Mike Parker, and Vice-President, Trudy Thomson, are concerned about the Government of Alberta’s sudden removal of the leadership of what was known as Alberta Public Laboratories (APL).
Alberta Public Laboratories now called Alberta Precision Laboratories
“The current government is hell-bent on disrupting the day-to-day operations of this important service that physicians rely on when making 70% of their treatment decisions,” Parker said to nearly 500 HSAA/NUPGE members at a conference in Calgary.
“While it appears none of the changes will impact our members right now, we wonder if they are setting the stage to ‘move more services to the private sector,’ as promised in the MacKinnon Report. This means putting private profits ahead of patient care,” added Thomson.
APL name change comes on the heels of govt.’s decision to remove “public” from school and division names
Of particular concern to HSAA/NUPGE members is the change in the name.
“We wonder why the Kenney government finds it necessary to remove the word ‘public’ from Alberta’s services. First it was with schools and now in our health care system, both of which are paid for with public dollars,” Parker said. “If this is a signal of a cuts-and-privatization agenda, they need to prepare for the fight of their life."
“HSAA/NUPGE members overwhelmingly expressed their support for a public health care system because they believe that every health care dollar should go for patient care and not for profits. Health care matters and we work every day to make it better.”