January 31, 2008	PDF format : 15 Kb

Debra McPherson has been re-elected by acclamation for another two-year term as president of the BC Nurses' Union.

McPherson has served as president since 2000, and has led the union through three rounds of provincial bargaining as well as major campaigns to address members' workloads. She also served two earlier terms as president from 1990 to 1994.

For vice-president, Melanie Leckovic was elected by acclamation as well. Leckovic, an emergency room nurse at Burnaby Hospital, is currently co-chair of BCNU's Simon Fraser Region. She has headed up campaigns to address emergency room overcrowding, and is now leading a campaign to deal with problems with nurses' workloads and quality of patient care resulting from overcapacity and hallway nursing.

"It's a real honour to have the privilege once again of representing our 26,000 members who work so hard every day to provide quality health care to the people of BC," McPherson says. "The next two years will be challenging as we continue to develop ways to mitigate our members' workloads in the face of a severe ongoing shortage of nurses and other health care providers." 

McPherson and Leckovic will begin their new terms on September 1, 2008.