A day at Playland won’t fix health care

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Fraser Health employees to leaflet public at PNE Sept. 19
B.C.’s largest health authority is betting that a day at Playland will boost morale for front-line health care workers who’ve been hammered with massive wage cuts, heavy workloads and privatization.

The Fraser Health Authority has invited its employees and their families to spend the day at Playland at the PNE in Vancouver on September 19. The “employee appreciation day” is expected to cost more than $300,000.

And while many health care workers are expected to treat their kids to a day on the rides, HEU’s acting secretary-business manager Zorica Bosancic says it’ll take more than a rollercoaster ride to improve staff morale at Fraser Health.

“On Monday, these workers will still be struggling to provide B.C. families with the care they deserve under very difficult circumstances,” says Bosancic.

A number of factors have contributed to plummeting staff morale at Fraser Health including:

• too few staff to provide proper care;
• closed hospitals and care facilities;
• overcrowded emergency rooms;
• pay cuts and pink slips for health care workers; and
• long waits for services.

“We need a real commitment to improving patient care and staff morale,” says Bosancic. “A day at Playland won’t fix health care.”