The recent rise of Covid-19 cases due to the Omicron variant spreading rapidly in the province has the healthcare sector taking a major hit with staffing levels and vacancies.
President of the Health Sciences Association of Alberta, Mike Parker says “Members from across this province are reporting unfilled shifts, forced overtime or they can’t get home at the end of the day, because there are no people available,” in a press conference on January 17, 2022.
According to the union, there are over 1,000 vacancies in Alberta in the healthcare sector.
The HSAA is asking the provincial government for three things:
- To protect the physical health of healthcare professionals. Including appropriate PPE and N95 masks for all front-line workers in healthcare.
- To protect the mental health of all healthcare professionals by getting much needed days off and an appropriate workload, without getting punished if they cannot come into work.
- A plan to recruit and retain workers, ensuring they don’t lose more healthcare professionals to mental and physical illness.
The union has reported in recent months, Emergency Medical Services in the province has experienced multiple ‘code red’ situations where no ambulances or paramedics are available in communities or cities to respond to 911 calls.
HSAA EMS updates daily on their Facebook and Twitter accounts of ambulance availability in regions.
The union represents over 28,000 healthcare professionals in Alberta.
-Erika Rolling, Trending 55 Newsroom
