Alberta health care professionals call on new UCP leader to keep health care public

Albertans from across the province are taking part in HSAA's Day of Action. They are on their phones demanding the new UCP leader keep health care public in Alberta.

HSAA members are here for Albertans delivering vital public health care services every day. As health-care experts, we care about every patient we see, and we want to be there when they need us. Now the UCP is pushing more cuts and private health care, which always makes that job difficult.

“During Danielle Smith's victory speech, there was a specific threat to replace public health care providers with ‘others' to do the job,” pointed out HSAA President Mike Parker. “Let's be clear, ‘others' means private corporations, and the last thing Alberta needs is more failed and costly experiments with their health care.”

“We need to immediately address critical staffing shortages across the health-care system so the professionals we have can continue to care for us,” asserted Parker. “And we need to do this through a properly funded, publicly delivered system.”

“Privatization has never resulted in better patient care,” concluded Parker. “Privatization will only make the problems worse while providing care for those who can afford to pay.”

HSAA is 29,0000 health-care professionals dedicated to protecting the public health system and the vulnerable Albertans who rely on it.