Alberta Health Services - EMS Transition News
Senior AHS officials address delegates attending HSAA's Annual EMS Conference
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
LEDUC - As one of HSAA's earliest disciplines, EMS professionals have played an important role in the development of our union, and will play a "critical role" on the province's new health-care landscape, HSAA President Elisabeth Ballermann told members attending the union's Annual EMS Conference held in this northern Alberta city earlier today.
"We believe you have a very important role to play in this health-care system," Ballermann told members of a packed ballroom at the Best Western Denham Inn - Leduc.
"We need our pre-hospital care members in the field to tell us what the conditions are on the ground. By teaming up EMS representatives with our professional negotiation staff, we create a powerful synergy to achieve the best possible collective agreements in this province."
Following updates regarding the transition process from Lynette McAvoy, HSAA Director of Labour Relations and Ron Roy, the union's Senior Labour Relations Officer, conference delegates were anxious to hear news on progress of the EMS transition from Brenda Fischer, the Senior VP of EMS Services for Alberta Health Services.
EMS members have been waiting patiently to see the province's vision for their profession.
They'll have to wait a little longer, stated Fischer.
"We know the essence of the vision, as defined by the Minister of Health and Wellness (Ron Liepert), in that he envisioned a borderless system of EMS, fully integrated into the health system, where all citizens of Alberta have access to quality emergency medical services. That's as far as we have right now.
"The short planning horizon just did not provide enough of an opportunity to do more than transfer services over as they currently existed.
"So what is the future of EMS? I still can't answer this question," admitted Fischer.
The Senior VP of EMS Services noted, however, that she didn't feel the delay was necessarily a bad thing.
"This is not the kind of question that should be decided by a few individuals sitting around a planning table."
AHS has embarked on a consultative process with various internal and external stakeholder groups in AHS, the health ministry and the College of Paramedics. They've also since held focus groups in each of the five health zones across the province attended by front-line staff and managers to obtain their perspectives on the future of EMS in Alberta. Fischer is hoping that "vision" will come to fruition sometime in the fall.
Susan McGillivray, VP of Employee and Labour Relations for AHS also addressed EMS Conference delegates. McGillivray wanted HSAA EMS members to realize the enormity of the process currently being undertaken by AHS.
"This is the most complex merger that has ever take place in Alberta, bringing 12 organizations together," professed McGillivray.
"It's been a challenging year with lots of learning. We can be one organization, but we expect we're going to hit some bumps in the road. Our objective is to take a problem-solving approach to this.
"Like a colleague of mine says, it's like trying to repair a car while driving it down the highway. We need to build problem-solving skills. We have some momentum, it's not perfect, but we're making progress and I remain positive about this process.
A healthy spirit of cooperation, noted McGillivray, such as that shared with Health Sciences, will be pivotal to the overall process.
"We've had to take on some tough issues together over the years, but we have a history of enjoying a great relationship with HSAA."
In one of the more lively segments of this year's EMS Conference, guest speakers including McGillivray, Fischer and Jim Garland, the Director of Dispatch Services for AHS, took part in a Q & A session, fielding numerous queries from delegates.
"There has been an incredible amount of ambiguity surrounding this EMS transition, and although we didn't receive any further clarity today, I appreciate the fact AHS officials took the time to address our EMS members," said Chris Abela, a Medicine Hat Paramedic recently elected to the union's Board of Directors.
Representatives from NUPGE and the AFL addressed members in the afternoon session, before delegates participated in break-out groups to carry on the theme of the 2009 conference, Moving Forward Together.
The two-day conference opened Tuesday evening with a social.
Previous Developments |
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