Crowd Gathers to Protest Federal Cuts to Healthcare and Save Kootenay Jobs
By Eva Brownstein
A small crowd of Healthcare supporters gathered Tuesday outside the Nelson Courthouse to protest the one-year anniversary of federal Conservative cuts to healthcare.
On March 31st, 2014, the federal Conservatives announced a $36 Billion cut to healthcare over the next ten years.
The decision means $5 Billion in cuts to British Columbia’s health services. To put the number in perspective, $5 Billion in cuts over ten years is like losing 2,000 full time family doctors per year, or 1,223 hospital beds annually.
Kootenay Lake Hospital, which has experienced significant cuts including the upcoming closure of its mammography unit May 1, is now in the process of privatizing it’s laundry service.
In February 2015, IH started the process to seek Request for Solutions (RFS) from pre-qualified service providers identified through the recent Request for Qualifications process.
If IH is successful in finding a company to take over the laundry services at KLH, 18 fulltime laundry workers will lose their jobs.
“Interior Health is telling us that it’s got nothing to do with money,” said Shelley Bridge, Regional Vice President of the Hospital Employees Union.
“We believe that they just want to contract out, that’s their main priority.”
“The laundry company is Alberta-based,” continued Bridge. “All the laundry will need to be trucked out, and then trucked back and we know what the passes are like in winter.”
The HEU said plan would affect hospital laundry facilities in 11 communities: Kelowna, Nelson, Vernon, Kamloops, Penticton, 100 Mile House, Williams Lake, Lillooet, Ashcroft, Golden and Princeton.
Kootenay Lake Hospital laundry services, which staffs 18 full-time equivalent positions and, including casuals, 25 laundry workers, processes laundry for all West Kootenay hospitals, including facilities in Trail, Castlegar, Grand Forks, Kaslo, New Denver and Nakusp.
Nelson-Creston MLA Michelle Mungall later appeared to show her support for the rally, stating that the laundry positions are healthcare jobs and need to stay in BC.
For more information on the Conservatives cuts to healthcare, and how to protect, strengthen and expand BC healthcare services, visit: www.saveourhealthcare.ca
