Health Sciences North president Dominic Giroux says 51 unionized positions still to be cut
Earlier this year, the hospital announced it wanted to eliminate 76 unionized positions to balance the books.
About sixty-four full and part-time employees could be affected by job cuts at Health Sciences North in Sudbury.
Officials are moving forward on recommendations to trim jobs to help balance the Sudbury hospital's budget.
Earlier this year, the hospital announced it wanted to eliminated 76 unionized positions to balance the books. A total of 50 management and non-union positions were cut before that.
On Friday, the North East Local Health Integration Network announced it is acting on a recommendation to invest a one-time amount of $4.8 million.
The President and CEO of Health Sciences North, Dominic Giroux, says 51 unionized positions still need to be cut.
He says the hospital is looking at upcoming retirements and vacancies before any layoffs are considered.
"Our goal is really to minimize impact on employees and to have a transition that can be as smooth as possible under the circumstances."
Dave Shelefontiuk is the president of CUPE Local 1623. He says non-clinical staff could face the brunt of the cuts, from maintenance and housekeeping to dietary and laundry.
"The LHIN and the board of directors have basically said that they don't want to see cuts to the clinical staff."
Shelefontiuk says for the most part, those clerical and service departments have remained on budget.
"But the reward for the non-clinical is that they're going to now take more of the layoffs anywhere else, so they're not very happy about it."
Shelefontiuk says morale is at an all-time low at the hospital and predicts it will only get worse as staff wait to hear their fate.
Nickel Belt MPP France Gelinas says the expected jobs cuts are the result of an underfunded provincial health care system. Gelinas says the review shows the need for the provincial government to step in and help hospitals.
"The review basically showed that the hospital had done a very good job at finding efficiencies within its operation and basically had no choice but to cut positions."
Hospitals are required to submit a balanced budget by law.