“Temporary” now for more than a Year!

Cypress Health Region
 

The Cypress Health Region supplies Southwest Saskatchewan with Healthcare. The Region runs from the South Saskatchewan River, south until the United States Border, and from the Alberta border east until the Morse/Mankota area. The population of this area is 44,000 people.

Yet they continue to “Temporary Close” facilities

Leader Hospital - Leader, SK

The Leader Hospital is presently under a temporary disruption of services.  During this temporary disruption there will be:

•           No emergency room services available

•           No admissions available

•           No Physician or Nurse Practitioner on-call services available

•           Hospital services will NOT be available 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.

Ponteix Health Centre (LAB ONLY) - Ponteix, SK

Laboratory services at the Ponteix Health Centre will be unavailable on May 9, 10, and 13, 2011.  On May 12, 2011, the laboratory will be open from 8:30am to 3:30pm.  Regular lab hours (8:00am to 12:00pm, 1:30pm to 3:30pm on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays) will resume on Monday, May 16.

Gull Lake Special Care

In addition, there will be changes to the Gull Lake Special Care Centre hours on April 14, 23, and 24 and May 7, 8, 15, 16, 28, and 29.  During these days the health centre will be closed altogether or open at reduced hours.

The nearest hospital emergency department is located at the:

Shaunavon Hospital & Care Centre
Cypress Regional Hospital (Swift Current)

Sounds like NO PLAN!  Do you think the community’s health needs are being met?

Makes the dog wonder!

Working together to create solutions? We hope so!

Cypress Health Region
 

SEIU-West and the Cypress Health Region have come to an agreement on a pilot project to increase the number of Special Care Aides (SCAs) in long term care facilities as a result of growing critical staff shortages.

As reported by the Southwest Booster on April 14, 2011, this is an innovative program that will give people an opportunity to get a good understanding of the position with on-the-job training while earning their certification as an SCA.

We can only hope that they will be willing to work with us on future creative strategies that will lend to fewer SCAs quitting the sector or work with this Health Region due to workplace concerns.

This dog will be watching to see how this potential solution plays out and will keep on the trail of innovative health delivery solutions.

“Minimum Wage Indexing”….doesn’t that sound familiar?

The province of Sasakatchewan
 

So we need to give credit where credit is due. The SaskParty government has come out in support of the IDEA of Minimum wage indexing.
 

Didn’t a former government of Saskatchewan have that idea first? Imitation is a form of compliment right?

The puzzling part of this announcement is not that it is a recycled idea, rather it is that the SaskParty government put indexing on hold in December of 2007 and maintained that hold for the previous 3 and ½ years, yet now, and just before a provincial election, the idea seems much more palatable.  

Call me suspicious, but I too wonder about the whole notion of tying the index to the combination of consumer price index and the average industrial wage. Is this going to be similar to the SAHO exercise of playing with data in order to achieve limited, if any, equity for the worker?

According to this same article, the Minimum wage has risen by 16% since 2008 to $9.25/hr. This fall it will go up by 19 cents. This takes us to $9.44/hr.

"The idea of the annual increment makes it easier for business to deal with," Morgan said. "We think it keeps a worker at the low-end of the income scale up to date with where the inflationary costs might be.'

Stay with me here…

So if such increases are keeping up with the inflationary costs then why over the past 12 years did Canada’s top CEOs salaries go up an average of 444%?

If inflationary rates are good for the goose, why not the gander?

Half a Doctor is still better than no doctor at all?

Saskatoon Health Region
 

Kudos to Dr. Zbigniew Gwiazda! He is the doctor who stepped up to take on a Part-time role for the residents of Wakaw.  He recognized that the community was passionate in their effort to maintain health care services and he is doing his part to assist.
 

We are still working on getting a full-time solution for this community but we hope that more doctors will take on this type of arrangement for our rural communities.
 

And that maybe, just maybe, some will extend their expertise on a full-time basis.

A dog’s breakfast of Health and Safety issues…

Cypress Health Region – Swift Current Care Centre
 

The Union representing care providers at the Swift Current Care Centre have brought significant health and safety issues to management’s attention on several different occasions.

The Union has sent two recent pieces of correspondence trying to get management to address these critical issues. 

The letter dated March 23, 2011 highlighted ongoing staff shortages and requested a meeting of the Occupational Health and Safety Committee by April 8, 2011.  

No action was taken by management.

The Union asked whether OH & S committee members had received any management initiative to schedule a committee meeting.  They heard no plans to meet.

Another letter has been sent out dated April 8, 2011 urging committee members to forward these matters to the attention of the Occupational Health Officer.

What will it take to get management’s attention?

Give a dog a break…

Cypress Health Region – Swift Current Care Centre
 
Basic needs are basic needs right?

So if the staff can’t fulfill their own basic needs, like eating, how can they be effective in their job to provide for the basic needs of the residents they care for?

Staff are not able to take the breaks that they are entitled to because they are working alone or short-staffed.

The Region knows there are faced with critical staffing issues. They have postings up; they have career information nights.

But no one wants to work that hard with no rest periods or meal breaks.

Are we being dragged back in time by our collars here?

Can you hear the familiar barking? It sounds like further rural health care service disruptions…

Heartland Health Region

Macklin Health Centre had NO emergency services, NO physicians from February 18, 2011 to February 28, 2011.

Rosetown Health Centre had limited physician services available with referrals to Outlook physicians only for March 9 and 10, 2011.

Kerrobert Integrated Health Centre had NO physician coverage with referrals to Kindersley physicians on March 12 and 13, 2011.

And GUESS what – NO EMS Services in the community of Kerrobert on March 15, 2011.

The Watchdog wonders:  are the residents feeling a little less certain about the reliability of their health care services?  I bet.

Red Light, Green Light, Stop!

Cypress Health Region

Kudos for the Cypress Health Region for developing a system in order to alert community members of health care service disruptions.

Check it out: http://www.cypresshealth.ca/disruptions.htm (Note: At the time of this posting there were only updates under "Red Lights".)

In order from top to bottom of the page:

Red: Facilities under a temporary disruption of services

Yellow: Facilities that may be under a temporary disruption of services
in the near future

Green: Facilities that are operating under normal conditions

Makes you wonder why they wouldn't include a complete list of all the
facilities that are "operating under normal conditions"...