funny story/unfunny story

Somebody came to the unit today and accosted me with a thick accent: "Do you have Kelly?" I said, "Sure, I'll just be a second." I ran over to the main scrub room and found Kelly and said, "Somebody's looking for you," and took her to the hall where the man was waiting. "Here you go," I said.

"No!" the main replied, "Like kelly scissors!"

"Oh."

They laughed.

***

Unhappy news for all the Diagnostic Imaging individuals like me. Apparently the Harper government is going to be selling some federally owned nuclear reactors, the ones that specialize in making radioisotopes used for medical imaging. Hospitals who obtain their products from these suppliers at partially gov't subsidized costs will soon find a private market out there. I'm guessing there aren't too many companies out there that make radioisotopes, esp. given the short half-life and cost of the materials, so privatization means higher cost for health care supplies.

At a time where Liepert is making cuts and fiscal vigilance is undoubtedly a necessity, this is not good news. Nurses and administrators on my unit are already starting to feel the strain and tension - nobody's job is safe unless they're really high up. The axe even fell upon me recently - I was under the impression that I would have a full time job this summer, a 40 hour week schedule. From what my supervisor was telling me, they were really excited to hire me and were happy to supplement me with hours a month ago. Unfortunately, a lot can happen in a month. Pressure has come down upon managers to cut costs, and so in retaliation they are forced to tell employees to not take overtime, to regulate all expenditures, and freeze all employee hiring. If you take a look at the AHS hiring board near Bernard Snell Hall, the entire case is completely empty.

Anyhow, like I said, the axe fell upon me recently. I've now been reduced to only working 2 days a week, so I guess I have to find another part time job. This is scary stuff - job losses, no hospital beds and health care strain are all very, very real possibilities at the moment. And at the way it stands, this is just the beginning of a nightmare paving the way for a Ralph Klein-era style health care system disaster in the near future. Scary stuff.