VanIsleVille
There is an important editorial in today's Victoria Times Colonist regarding the further privatization of day surgery 'n stuff on Vancouver Island, ostensibly because the Site C and Deas Island bridge crazy Clarklandians say they have no money for capital projects.
So.
How will this 'save' us money if the privateers need to make a profit?
Why, cut the cost of labour, of course:
...Surgical waitlists have been growing, but public funds aren’t available to set up additional operating rooms and equipment. Hence the decision to get corporate players involved.
But that only makes sense if their price is no greater than the public system pays. Yet how can that be, since companies must make a profit?
Part of the answer is that private clinics won’t have to pay union salaries. That means the owners can pay nursing staff less, ignore seniority and set their own rules for sick leave.
In effect, the government is creating a parallel delivery system to circumvent its own collective agreements...
That is not the whole story, because it looks like the government is also tying both hands of the regional health authorities behind our/their backs when they negotiate with the privateers.
Meanwhile, Merv Adey asks two important questions that we must (and I mean MUST) keep in mind everytime these people pull this hidden-ball trick/Straussian codswallopanarianism on us:
Who pays?
And...
Who benefits?
OK?
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7 comments:
Many recent news stories have highlighted the fact BC is experiencing a shortage of nurses, in particular specialty and operating room RNs. Vancouver Coastal Health and Fraser Health, the province’s two largest health authorities spent over $70 million in overtime to make up for these shortages just last year.
The contractor currently negotiating with the Island Health Authority (Surgical Centres Inc.) advertises ongoing openings for all classifications of operating and recovery room staff at all of its locations. It appears then, that nurses won’t have to work for the privateers unless they want to.
The editorial says that it only makes sense to involve corporate players if their price is no greater than the public system pays. Indeed. But who says anything the BC Liberals do makes sense to anybody but them and their cronies? Since the editorial goes on to say that we really don’t know what the public system pays in the first place, the BC Liberals are free to reward their cronies as they see fit. The goal should be to eliminate middlemen, because common sense says that middlemen add to the overall cost of a particular requirement. But the BC Liberals have been relentless in ADDING middlemen anywhere they can. And like most laws that get in their way, the Canada Health Act is ignored.
So we pay. And they benefit.
http://www.bcveritas.com/index.php/2015/09/06/moving-to-2-tiered-health-care-in-bc/
ban unneeded site c then have 10 billion
this is the b.c. lieberals method of bringing American style health care into Canada. Once a contract is "given" to an American corporations, we won't be able to get rid of them.
There is a new hospital being built in the Comox Valley, a P3. The current hospital, St. Joseph's" will be abandoned. it is owned by the Catholic Church and I guess they don't do P3s. The Vancouver Island Health Authority went out and spent several million $ to buy land and some private corporations is now building. Cleaning and Maintence staff have been told they will not be going to the new P3 hospital. They would have to apply for work with whomever gets the private contract. The nurses and doctors have been making enquires and they also have been told, no decision as to their job security. at this rate the contract could go out for all staff and under the free trade agreements Harper signed, all the new staff could come from overseas. One easy step to get rid of the health care unions, from Doctors to cleaners.
The profits will go to off shore businesses. When their contract run out the B.C. taxpayers get back an old used up building after having paid millions more than necessary. In England a P3 hospital can cost as much as $25M pounds more than a regular hospital. Who makes the money? Most likely friends of the politicians. Its a sure formula for making friends rich, declining health care services, lower salaries, etc. Oh, well B.C. voted for Christy and her cabal. Now they can live with it and in some cases they may die because of it. We all have seen how well the privitztion of hospital cleaning has worked. 86 died of il deficile at Burnaby General in 2 1/2 yrs. Did anything change? No
As part of the move to privatize profits and socialize the costs...
The private clinics will operate at a profit, BUT when they screw up - as they unfortunately will - their mistakes will end up in the local hospital ER to get fixed. Who funds the local ER?
By the way: How is that provincial lawsuit against Dr. Day doing?
happy labor day
Thanks, as always, for digging into the details Lew and e.a.f.
Much appreciated.
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Happy Labour Day to everyone else 'round here!
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