[news] Pink Slips Issued to Hundreds of Healthcare Workers

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Subject: Pink Slips Issued to Hundreds of Healthcare Workers
From:    "Bob Wilson" <BWilson at heu.org>
Date:    Fri, November 7, 2003 5:04 pm
To:
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News Releases

November 7, 2003

Pink slips issued for hundreds of health care workers at St.
Vincent-Heather Hospital

Hospital to close while health authority spends more than a million
dollars in cost-cutting advice  Providence Healthcare today issued lay off
notices to more than 450 health care workers in preparation for the
shutdown of B.C.'s only acute care hospital specializing in geriatric
health.  The news comes on the same day as revelations that the health
authority that funds St. Vincent's-Heather spent more than $1.3 million on
consultants for cost-cutting advice. The Hospital Employees' Union says
the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority has its priorities all wrong. 
"There are 1,840 seniors waiting for cataract surgery at St.
Vincent's-Heather," says HEU secretary-business manager Chris Allnutt. 
"But instead of using scarce health care dollars to shorten their wait,
the health authority is shutting down the hospital and its operating
rooms, firing health care workers while spending more than a million
dollars for tips on how to cut even more services."  Allnutt called on the
health authority to break its dependence on high-priced consultants,
branding exercises and corporate reorganization and get back to the basics
of delivering good care.  St. Vincent's-Heather is scheduled to close on
March 31, 2004.
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