Nurses reach contract deal, get reimbursed for attending Michael Moore’s documentary. Jason Markusoff, Edmonton Journal, July 12, 2007 Edmonton - Michael Moore's documentary Sicko has made clear his affection for Canada's health system, but today the filmmaker showed more love for Alberta's nurses union. One week after the United Nurses of Alberta bought 150 film tickets to hand out to the public, Moore publicly offered to reimburse the union. Also, nurses across Canada nurses will get free admission to see Moore's new health-care documentary for four days next week, Alliance Atlantis, the film's Canadian distributor, announced. The United Nurses gave out tickets to Sicko to help promote its message against American and privatized health care. In thanks, Moore praised them for fighting alongside him. ... Filmmaker

Canadian Press, July 12, 2007 Toronto - Nurses across Canada will be able to see Michael Moore's new documentary "Sicko'' for free for a limited time beginning next week. The move by distributor Alliance Atlantis all started with a group of nurses in Alberta. The United Nurses of Alberta decided to purchase 150 tickets to the movie to distribute to the public. When filmmaker Michael Moore heard about it, he announced that he'd reimburse the cost of the movie tickets to the organization. Moore says the nurses know that once a Canadian sees his film, the last thing they will want is an American-style approach to health care. ... Nurses

Canadian Distributor Applauds Michael Moore's Action and Offers Free Admission to All Nurses Across Canada Starting Monday, July 16th. Alliance Atlantis Motion Picture Distribution, July 12, 2007 Toronto - In an effort to encourage members of the public to see Michael Moore's latest provocative and acclaimed film SiCKO last week, The United Nurses of Alberta purchased 150 tickets to distribute to the public. Today, Michael Moore congratulated their efforts and offered to reimburse the union for their action. When reached for comment, Michael Moore stated, "Nurses across Canada are on the front line in the battle against those forces who want to inch the Canadian health care system toward the American way.

Canadian Press, July 6, 2007 Edmonton – The United Nurses of Alberta believes the new Michael Moore documentary Sicko is so good, the union spent nearly $1,800 so Edmontonians could watch it. Wearing sandwich boards, sunglasses and summer smiles, several nurses handed out free movie passes in downtown Edmonton on Wednesday. Union vice-president Bev Dick said every cent of the 150 tickets, costing $11.95 each, came out of union coffers. "It's certainly part of our role to promote strong public health care," she said. "(The movie) shows what can happen when you allow for-profits into a public system." ... Nurses

Amanda Ferguson, Edmonton Journal, July 4, 2007 Edmonton - The argument for maintaining a public health-care system got a shot in the arm today from Alberta's nurses. They held a rally in Churchill Square and handed out free tickets to Michael Moore's new film Sicko, urging Albertans to see the film and support public health-care. "We're encouraging Albertans to see it because it shows what can happen when we're not guarding our strong public health care system and what happens when you allow the for-profit insurance companies and for-profit health care providers to enter into our health-care system," Bev Dick vice president of United Nurses of Alberta said. ... Nurses

CBC News, June 20, 2007
Alberta's registered nurses will vote on a new contract next month that could make them the highest paid in the country. The province's 24,000 registered nurses will decide whether to accept a mediator's recommendations that include a 15 per cent wage increase over the next three years. The union is leaving it up to the members to decide whether to accept or reject the deal when they vote on July 11. "It would be a very good, competitive collective agreement and it would put us with the highest rates of pay of any of the other provinces," said David Harrigan, spokesman for the United Nurses of Alberta. "Yes, it's the highest in the country, but that in and of itself doesn't mean it's a good deal. They have to look at the details and make the decision." The nurses have been without a contract since the end of March.

Tarina White, Calgary Sun, June 17, 2007 While Alberta's teachers are set to ask for double-digit wage hikes, the province's nurses are awaiting a mediator's report in their own stalled contract negotiations. The United Nurses of Alberta, which has been in contract talks with the province since January, last month rejected the government's latest offer. Karen Craik, UNA provincial secretary treasurer, said the mediator should make a recommendation next week. "Both parties will take a look at it and put it out for discussion," she said yesterday. The UNA's contract with the province expired March 31. ... Nurses

630 CHED News, June 15, 2007
Edmonton - 630 CHED News has learned that a mediator is recommending a three-year deal with Alberta's nurses. It would contain a 5 percent increase in each year ... along with lump sum "Cost of Living" payments of over $1500. The deal would affect twenty-five-thousand registered nurses with the United Nurses of Alberta in the nine health regions. Union reps are not commenting on the offer. Arbitrator David Jones is expected to make the details public, sometime next week.

90 recently hired as recruiters look beyond borders in effort to solve shortage.
Meghan Hurley, Edmonton Journal, May 27, 2007

Edmonton - Ann Garfield knew she landed a nursing job on the other side of the ocean when she drove up to her home in Wales to see her husband waving a letter through the front window.

That letter signalled a new beginning for the Garfields - Ann, husband David, teen daughter Jessica and their dog Rosie - who will move here this summer. They are part of ongoing efforts to ease a nursing shortage in the city.

"When I found out I jumped up and down," said Garfield, 45, one of 90 British nurses recently hired by Capital Health. "The enormity of it sunk in when we got the letter in the post."

The adventure the Garfields are embarking on brings back memories to Mike Powell, 38, who came here from the United Kingdom in April 2005 for a nursing job at the University of Alberta Hospital. "I was looking out the window of the intensive care unit and there was a car parked against the wall and I thought, 'Do I really want to look at that for the next 28 years?' "

Claresholm reports it too has a faulty sterilization unit. Canadian Press, April 3, 2007 Claresholm - Another hospital in Alberta has a non-functioning sterilization unit, CTV News reported Monday. It came to light when the Claresholm Hospital Foundation asked the town's hospital administrators what they needed. They were told the sterilization unit hadn't been working for at least a month. "Why did it get into this kind of a situation?'' asked Ernie Patterson of the health foundation. ''The Calgary Health Region should have been on top of this right from the very beginning and have that equipment replaced.'' Lori Anderson, executive director of regional health for the Calgary Health Region, said Claresholm hospital has only ever performed minor surgeries. ... More

CBC News, April 3, 2007 The union representing Alberta nurses wants a medical health officer to correct what they call misinformation surrounding the sterilization scare and superbug outbreak at the Vegreville hospital. In a tersely worded letter to Dr. Gerhard Benadé, United Nurses of Alberta vice-president Bev Dick wrote that there was no breakdown in infection control at the St. Joseph's hospital and the two dozen nurses who work there are bearing the brunt of the facility's health scare. "The situation has been blown way out of proportion and the facts have not been presented properly," she said Monday. ... Union

Philippe Gohier, Macleans, January 25, 2007 Faced with the all-too-common problem of a shortage of nurses, Calgary has embarked on an ambitious recruiting drive. The problem is, those new recruits have to come from somewhere - and the communities at risk of losing them are less than enthused. On Saturday, the Calgary Health Region launched a controversial campaign to attract as many as 500 nurses to the city by placing advertisements in local newspapers across Canada. And almost immediately, the ads were met with hostile accusations that they have more to do with poaching than recruitment. ... Alberta

CBC News, December 28, 2006 The Calgary Health Region needs to close about 30 beds on most days because of a staff shortage, particularly of nurses. Jack Davis, chief executive of the health authority, said on Thursday as many as 70 beds are closed on any given day to ensure patient safety. "We have to have a certain ratio of nurses to patients. When we have vacancies that don't allow us to maintain that ratio, we take beds out of commission." The shortage has meant a "small number" of elected surgeries have had to be rescheduled, he said. ... Staff

Incidents rise with bed and staff shortages. Eva Ferguson, Calgary Herald, November 19, 2006 Nurses are being physically abused and verbally threatened because of staff and bed shortages in Calgary hospitals, say leaders with the United Nurses of Alberta. Patients who face longer wait times in emergency rooms, and lack privacy and beds for treatment are taking out their frustrations on nurses more than ever, health-care workers say. Documented cases in which nurses have reported unsafe working conditions have jumped significantly over the last year at Foothills, Peter Lougheed Centre, Rockyview and Alberta Children's Hospital. ... Abusive

Canadian Press, October 24, 2006 Alberta is experiencing a dire shortage of nurses that will get even worse as new hospitals open in Calgary and Edmonton in the next five years, a union leader warned Tuesday. "The rural regions are very fearful that Edmonton and Calgary will act like black holes, sucking resources from them," said Heather Smith, president of the United Nurses of Alberta. "There's also a concern in other provinces that Alberta will pull resources from their jurisdictions as well." ... Union