“Outpatient diagnostic services should not be privatized,” says union president
This week’s edition of who is saying what about public health care is compiled by Pat Van Horne.
BC workers reach deal, call for review of LifeLabs
“It took 69 days of job action to reach a point where we could go into mediation. It’s incredibly concerning . . . This is an American company seeking to get the maximum possible leverage and have the best profit margins, for their shareholders in the United States. . . These outpatient diagnostic services, being part of our health-care system, should not be privatized . . . The contract (between the BC government and LifeLabs) should be examined and, where possible, be brought back into the public sphere,” said Paul Finch, president, BC General Employees Union, to The Tyee, May 22, 2025.
Two New Brunswick CUPE unions sign collective agreements
“The new agreement includes annual wage increases of more than one dollar per hour for each year of the agreement . . .This was reached without any concessions on working conditions or benefits,” said Sharon Teare, president of the New Brunswick Council of Nursing Home Unions to the NB Media Co-op, May 23, 2025.
Call to reinstate minister for people with disabilities
“(Prime Minister) Carney’s decision to eliminate this position isn’t just a lapse in judgement; it’s a stark reminder of the marginalization people with disabilities are forced to endure. This decision makes it clear that the living experiences of more than eight million people in Canada who identify as having at least one disability no longer matter enough to warrant a cabinet position,” said Len Baker, president and CEO, of March of Dimes Canada, a national charity focused on advancing the interests of people with disabilities and achieving a barrier-free society, to The Hill Times, May 26, 2025.
Study says fewer long-term care workers compared with pre-pandemic levels
“It’s really frustrating and disappointing to see that there wasn’t sort of a seismic shift. . . It’s inexcusable, five years after a pandemic, where so many people died in long-term care and so many long-term-care staff were afflicted with COVID – and many of them long COVID – that we have data showing it getting worse,” said University of Ottawa professor Ivy Bourgeault, director of the Canadian Health Workforce Network, to The Globe and Mail, May 22, 2025.
Confusion created by the Alberta Health Services, ministerial break-up
“We had one minister, the buck stopped there. We now have four ministers. (Jason) Nixon, (Matt) Jones, (Rick) Wilson or (former Health Minister Adriana) LaGrange, which minister of health do you speak to about your concerns about the services you are or are not able to access?” said Heather Smith, president of United Nurses of Alberta, to CBC News, May 23, 2025.
Family physicians denounce new bill that questions their work ethic
“Everyone gives their 100 per cent, so when you hear that you’re lazy, like, really? Do you think that we’re lazy people? We did med school. . . I can’t see a patient in 10 minutes, because in 10 minutes, the patient hardly has time to explain to me what the problem is,” said Dr Sarah Giraldeau, medical director of Universitaire de Gatineau Maisonneuve-Rosemont to Global News, May 27, 2025.
Calls for a cardiac hub in Winnipeg
“What Manitoba needs now is not another task force or another report to gather dust on a shelf. The province needs bold, decisive action. . . First, establish a centralized cardiac care hub in Winnipeg, capable of co-ordinating referrals, diagnostics and surgical interventions. Such a centre should be empowered to set provincial standards for cardiac care and to ensure that rural and remote communities are not left behind. Second, ensure equitable access to diagnostic testing. This means increasing funding for lab and imaging services, training more technologists, and deploying mobile diagnostic units to reach underserved areas. Third, address surgical wait lists with the urgency they deserve. This requires increasing operating room capacity, hiring more surgical teams, and establishing targets for wait times that reflect clinical need, not just administrative convenience,” according to an editorial by the Winnipeg Free Press, May 27, 2025.
