Entries tagged with
health care
A new report from Parkland Institute examines the UCP government’s privatization of Alberta’s medical lab services to DynaLIFE set to happen on July 1, 2022, as announced last week by Alberta Health Services (AHS). “The DynaLIFE deal rewards a large corporation and its shareholders over the current and long-term interests of Albertans,” says report author Rebecca Graff-McRae, a research manager at Parkland Institute. “It offers false economies, minimal savings, a smaller and demoralized workforce, a massive infrastructure deficit, and a fragmented system with little accountability.”
Misdiagnosis
Privatization and Disruption in Alberta’s Medical Laboratory Services
Drawing from financial data, lab professionals’ experiences, and hundreds of pages of files obtained through a freedom of information (FOIP) request, this report examines the serious implications of the UCP government’s plan to contract out the majority of Alberta’s medical lab services to a single for-profit corporation — DynaLIFE.
More Than "Just a Health-Care Aide"
Immigrant Women Speak About the COVID-19 Crisis in Long-Term Care
A first-of-its-kind report highlights the experiences of 25 immigrant women health-care aides working in long-term care (LTC) during the pandemic and shows how this essential work is socially and economically devalued. To-date, the voices of the vulnerable immigrant, racialized women doing low-wage, on-the-ground caring work in LTC have largely been ignored.
Time to Care
Staffing and Workloads in Alberta’s Long-Term Care Facilities
Time to Care: Staffing and Workloads in Alberta’s Long-term Care Facilities by Parkland research manager Rebecca Graff-McRae reveals that many seniors continuing care centres are chronically understaffed and unable to meet the basic care needs of seniors.
Alberta's health minister announced plans to cut 11,000 Alberta Health Services jobs in laboratory services, medical laundry, housekeeping and food services. These front-line workers ensure testing and sanitation under the most challenging conditions, especially during a pandemic. Research manager Rebecca Graff-McRae responds to the provincial government's Oct. 13 announcement.
Privatization Pressures in Alberta Health Care
Laboratory Services, Home Care, and Telehealth Under Austerity
This report explores contemporary pressures to expand private participation in three areas of Alberta’s public health care system: diagnostic laboratory services, home care, and telehealth.
Women in Alberta are suffering the triple blow of bearing the brunt of the governing United Conservative Party’s austerity agenda and the COVID-19 economic and public health crises. In this blog Ian Hussey makes the case for an evidence-based COVID-19 response and recovery plan for Alberta that includes feminist considerations, and makes some suggestions for what such a plan might include.
Alberta lab services
from guinea pigs to heroes (and back again?)
Jason Kenney has celebrated the life-saving contributions of medical lab professionals in Alberta but just a few months ago he discussed plans to privatize the province's labs and label lab workers as not "frontline" medicine. Rebecca Graff-McRae digs into the current work of medical labs in Alberta, their recent political history, and what might become of them post-pandemic.
In his Address to Albertans on April 7, Premier Jason Kenney quoted Franklin Delano Roosevelt without naming him. In this blog research manager Rebecca Graff-McRae takes a deeper look at some of the context and themes of Roosevelt's "fear itself" address to find some instructive historical parallels, and some even more stark contrasts.
Last week Ernst & Young LLP released the review of Alberta Health Services commissioned by the UCP back in July. Parkland Institute research manager Alison McIntosh did a deep dive into the report and provides her thoughts on what the recommendations mean for health workers, Albertans, and the health care system as a whole.