By Mario deSantis, November 20, 1999

Brian Rourke(1), the supreme asset of the Saskatchewan Association of Health Organizations (SAHO), was able to save taxpayers money(2) and make a fool of himself when in early 1999 he democratically and legally purchased SAP payroll at one of the biggest negotiated prices in Canada(3). This new payroll system is not good enough for Rourke and his lieutenant Arliss Wright, President and Chief Executive Officer of SAHO. In fact, after a collective agreement with the Saskatchewan Nurses was reached earlier in the year, SAHO is not able to provide the nurses with their new pay increases and their retroactive pay(4).

Arliss Wright expected that his new big payroll machine would fix all the big payroll problems of the past, and only now he realizes that it takes more than a big machine to administer payroll. In justifying the delay in complying with the collective agreement Wright has said "...It is a big, big job to put this in place... You can't just press a button and do that..." While the saga of healthcare payroll continues, we rejoice to the thought that the new Mausoleum will be used to accommodate and study the big brains of our leaders(5).

Endnotes

1. Saskatchewan Health Information Network-SHIN: Ignoring its mandate and diverting money for the Y2K Nightmare, by Mario deSantis, November 3, 1999. Published in the North Central Internet News

2. SAHO Payroll Policies: Saving Money out of Ongoing Catastrophes, by Mario deSantis, February 10, 1999. Published in the North Central Internet News

3. Conversation Paper: Economic policies for the computerization of accounting and payroll functions of Saskatchewan District Health Boards. Meeting of July 15, 1996 between Brian Rourke, Chairperson of SAHO, Arliss Wright, President and CEO of SAHO, and Mario deSantis of DigiCare. Prepared by Mario deSantis, July 12, 1996. http://www3.sk.sympatico.ca/desam/Paper-ConversationSAHO-Jl12-96.htm

4. Nurses still wait for wage hikes: SUN upset at dealys; SAHO works on problem, by Kim McNairn, The StarPhoenix, November 19, 1999, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

5. The U of S Synchrotron: A Mausoleum for a Museum Mentality, by Mario deSantis, November 16, 1999. Published in the North Central Internet News