Front-line health care workers in Calgary see the consequences of the privatization agenda every day, and it worries them.
They want to make the system so poor that the public will support their privatization plans, says Bob McLaughlin, who works at the Peter Lougheed Centre site of the Calgary General Hospital. Theyre basically saying look, were going to have to open up all these private clinics because the system just cant handle it anymore when theyre the ones wrecking the system.
McLaughlin, who oversees porter and distribution services and is a CUPE 182 member, says he sees the consequences of cutbacks and contracting out every day. The staffing has dropped to skeleton levels. There are huge workload problems. Those problems hit patients, as they wait longer to be moved within the hospital or for necessary supplies to be delivered.
Contracted-out cleaning at the Peter Lougheed Centre has created an unhealthy situation. Electrician James Arthurs says the hospital is filthy a comment he hears from patients and their families.
The hospital used to smell clean. It doesnt smell clean anymore. Public washrooms and washrooms on the units arent being cleaned as frequently as they used to be, he says.
Its bad enough being a healthy person. Imagine what its like for a person whos weak and ill. Its very easy to pick up other germs in that state.
Public health care infrastructure is also being run down and under-maintained a costly mistake in the long run, says Arthurs. They dont pay attention to maintenance, so instead of a $10 repair, theyll eventually have a $100 repair.
To Arthurs, the systematic neglect goes hand-in-hand with long waiting lists and crowded emergency rooms when it comes to undermining public support for Medicare.
When the publics used to a clean, well-maintained facility and thats not what theyre seeing anymore, eventually theyll say its just a run-down dirty old building and lose confidence.
The hospital used to smell clean. It doesnt smell clean anymore. Public washrooms and washrooms on the units arent being cleaned as frequently as they used to be, he says.
Its bad enough being a healthy person. Imagine what its like for a person whos weak and ill. Its very easy to pick up other germs in that state.
Public health care infrastructure is also being run down and under-maintained a costly mistake in the long run, says Arthurs. They dont pay attention to maintenance, so instead of a $10 repair, theyll eventually have a $100 repair.
To Arthurs, the systematic neglect goes hand-in-hand with long waiting lists and crowded emergency rooms when it comes to undermining public support for Medicare.
When the publics used to a clean, well-maintained facility and thats not what theyre seeing anymore, eventually theyll say its just a run-down dirty old building and lose confidence.