Mayors, OPSEU President to speak at April 11 rally to save Thunder Bay plasma center

Posted on April 5, 2012 | Leave a comment

THUNDER BAY – Two mayors and the President of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union will be among speakers at a rally next week intended to save the Thunder Bay Plasma Collection Centre.

Thunder Bay Mayor Keith Hobbs and former Mayor Ken Boshcoff will be joined by OPSEU’s Warren (Smokey) Thomas and other speakers at the April 11th rally in front of the Canadian Blood Services site slated for closure the next day.

The Thunder Bay plasma collection facility is the only one of its kind in Canada.

CBS says it doesn’t need the Thunder Bay facility given it has an excess supply of 10,000 units of plasma per year. However, their annual reports reveal that CBS has been increasing the volume of plasma it has been purchasing from the United States. In their 2010-11 report, CBS indicated they purchased more than 20,000 units of “surplus” American-sourced plasma.

____________________________
When: Wednesday, April 11 / 12 Noon
Where: CBS Thunder Bay, 1165 Barton St.
_____________________________

“CBS is not only importing foreign-sourced plasma, it is exporting Canadian jobs,” says Warren (Smokey) Thomas, President of the 130,000-member Ontario Public Service Employees Union.

OPSEU warns that American “paid” blood donations are contrary to the World Health Organization’s 2010 recommendations to reduce transfusion-transmissible infections.

While CBS tells the public about excess supply, it has a different message for hospitals, indicating the demand for immunoglobulin (made from blood plasma) rose by 9 per cent last year and is expected to jump by a similar amount again this year. Immunoglobulin is used to boost the immune system of cancer patients and allows for more aggressive chemotherapy treatment.

Leave a comment

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , , , ,

CBS buys U.S. “surplus” plasma while shutting down Thunder Bay collection facility

Posted on April 4, 2012 | 1 comment

“An aging population is a double challenge for Canadian Blood Services. First, as large percentage of our population gets older, healthcare activity will increase and so will demand for blood and blood products as a consequence. Secondly, a large segment of our most loyal donors are at the age where they will soon move from being donors to users of the blood system.” – From the Canadian Blood Services (CBS) website

Last week’s surprise announcement of the closure of the CBS Thunder Bay plasma collection center raises numerous questions, including the credibility of the above statement from CBS.

If CBS is so concerned about its donations, why would it close the doors of its only dedicated plasma collection center in the country?

Donors in Thunder Bay are feeling betrayed, told there was a significant need for them to come and donate, then suddenly told it was all unnecessary. Some of their “most loyal donors” are now wondering if they were lied to.

CBS maintains it has a surplus of 10,000 units of plasma per year. Thunder Bay produces 10,800 units. CBS needs in excess of 220,000 units of plasma per year for both transfusions and for fractionation into blood plasma products. That’s not much of an oversupply, especially if you really are anticipating increased need from aging.

Thunder Bay is closing to eliminate 10,000 units, while CBS is accessing more than 20,000 “surplus” plasma units from the United States according to their 2010-11 annual report.

Continue reading →

1 Comment

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , , ,

Freedom of Information: $1637.76 to access info from 20 hospitals

Posted on April 2, 2012 | 2 comments

Now that hospitals are subject to Freedom of Information requests, how accessible will this information really be? It all depends on the hospital and how much money you have.

It cost us $1,637.76 to find out what the ratio of staff to management was at 20 hospital corporations. That includes the $5 processing fee it takes to initiate the request.

Hospitals came under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act on January 1st of this year, although the Ontario Hospital Association sought and received additional exemption from divulging quality information under specific circumstances.

For years we have heard front line staff complain that their numbers have dwindled while the ranks of management have increased. We decided to test that question with requests to 20 randomly selected hospitals where OPSEU represents members. This includes four mental health centres – Penetanguishene’s Waypoint Centre, Whitby’s Ontario Shores, London’s St. Joseph’s Health Centre (Regional Mental Health), and the Royal Ottawa Health Care Group.

Continue reading →

2 Comments

Posted in Health System, Hospitals

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Austerity amid incredible wealth — Yalnizyan

Posted on March 31, 2012 | Leave a comment

Economist Armine Yalnizyan reminds us that the present call for austerity is taking place amid a period of incredible wealth.

Speaking at a Students for Medicare Conference in Toronto March 31st, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternative economist said this debate is taking place amid a backdrop of growing income inequality.

“We’re standing in the middle of the industrial revolution,” she said. “Global wealth is expanding exponentially. We have more access to stuff than ever before.”

Economist Armine Yalnizyan speaking at the Students for Medicare Conference March 31.

While the rich were also affected by the economic crisis of 2008, having lost on their investments, she says they have bounced back much faster than the rest of us.

There is a growing consensus among major institutions – including the Bank of Canada — that growing inequality is a major problem.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Posted in Health System

Tagged , ,

Guyatt: Want sustainable health care? Go public

Posted on March 31, 2012 | Leave a comment

Why is it we celebrate the production of 10,000 SUVs or 10,000 television sets as economic growth but don’t do the same for 10,000 hip replacements?

Dr. Gordon Guyatt points out that there is likely more merit to the hip replacements than the SUVs, yet we are conditioned to think otherwise.

Dr. Gordon Guyatt

Dr. Gordon Guyatt

Public health care is not a drain on the economy, but part of the economy.

Speaking at a “Students for Medicare” conference in Toronto March 31, the McMaster University professor and recent recipient of the Order of Canada made the case that the road to sustainable health care is in publicly funded health care.

Guyatt was critical of the mainstream media who only look at the sustainability of public health care costs, ignoring total health care costs.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Posted in Health System

Tagged , ,

CBS announces closure of Thunder Bay plasma collection centre

Posted on March 29, 2012 | 4 comments

Canadian Blood Services says it is producing too much blood plasma and is going to close its Thunder Bay Centre collection center, shedding 25 unionized jobs.

Represented by OPSEU, the workers received notice this afternoon, learning that CBS is closing its Thunder Bay facility April 12.

“After major job losses in both the Federal and Provincial budgets, CBS is adding to the attack on workers felt across Ontario this week,” says Warren (Smokey) Thomas, President of the 130,000-member Ontario Public Service Employees Union.

CBS states that new products and declining hospital demand for plasma products led to the decision.

Blood plasma is primarily used by hospitals for transfusions.

4 Comments

Posted in Health System

Tagged ,

Ontario NDP invites you to have your say on the budget

Posted on March 29, 2012 | 3 comments

The Ontario New Democrats are seeking your input into the provincial budget.

Tim Hudak and the Tories have already said they will vote against it. This gives the NDP the opportunity to push for meaningful changes.

Tuesday’s budget represents considerable austerity for health care, especially for hospitals which are expected to endure a freeze on their base budgets. It does nothing to address the lack of resources in mental health.

Coupled with cuts to affordable housing, a freeze on social assistance and delays in the promised increase to the Ontario Child Benefit, the budget does nothing to address the social determinants of health, placing even greater strain on the health system.

The NDP are asking what you like about the budget as well as what you dislike. They are also asking if you would support calling a snap election over the contents of the budget.

To have your say, click here.

3 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , ,

Campbell named OHA CEO and President

Posted on March 29, 2012 | Leave a comment

Pat Campbell has been named the new president and CEO of the Ontario Hospital Association.

Campbell most recently served as CEO of Echo, an agency whose goal is to collaborate with health partners and conduct research to improve women’s health.

She may be more familiar to OPSEU members as the past President and CEO of Grey Bruce Health Services.

Campbell will take up her role June 4 and replace interim OHA President Mark Rochon.

Leave a comment

Posted in Ontario Hospital Association

Tagged ,

OHC Lobby: MPPs reluctant to halt hospital bed cuts

Posted on March 29, 2012 | 5 comments

Yesterday 120 Ontario Health Coalition members entered Queen’s Park to meet with 70 MPPs a day after one of the most controversial provincial budgets in recent history. There are a total of 107 MPPs in the legislature.

With health care funding falling below that recommended by the Drummond Commission on Public Service Reform, one opposition MPP told his visitors, “there is a significant bump in the road coming.”

The lobbyists arrived at the MPPs offices to talk about jammed hospitals; thousands on wait lists for nursing home beds, and severely rationed home care. They also expressed their concerns about the prospects for increased privatization.

Continue reading →

5 Comments

Posted in Ontario Health Coalition

Tagged , , , , , ,

Budget 2012: McGuinty government brings even greater restraint to health care

Posted on March 27, 2012 | 1 comment

Ontario’s 2012 budget will leave health care facing even greater restraint than recommended by the Drummond Commission on Public Service Reform.

Drummond’s recommendation to restrain health care funding to increases of 2.5 per cent per year was previously considered unworkable. Tuesday’s provincial budget limits increases in health care spending even further — to an average of 2.1 per cent over the next three years. This year it will be 2.45 per cent.

In dollars, that amounts to $1.1 billion more this year, $1 billion more in 2013-14, and $900 million more in 2014-15.

Gone will be increases in excess of $2 billion per year that were experienced in recent years.

Hospitals will be the hardest hit – their core budgets set at zero. The government has set aside 2 per cent in envelope funding for specific hospital programs, such as wait times initiatives.

Continue reading →

1 Comment

Posted in Health System

Tagged , ,