Health Sciences North to cut jobs to help balance budget

Health Sciences North is moving forward on recommendations to trim jobs to help balance the Sudbury hospital's budget.

Auditors took a look at the hospital's plan to deliver care and reduce its deficit at the same time.

Earlier this year, the hospital announced it wanted to eliminated 76 unionized positions to balance the books. A total 50 management and non-union positions were cut before that.

The North East Local Health Integration Network (NE LHIN) stepped in to review the plan.

On Friday, the NE LHIN announced it is acting on a recommendation to invest a one-time amount of $4.8 million.

President and CEO of Health Sciences North Dominic Giroux says 51 unionized positions still need to be cut.

"That will unfold over the coming weeks, we're going to sit down with our bargaining units and work through our collective agreement positions," he said.

"What's important to note is that between now and the end of December, we have over 200 employees who are eligible for a full, unreduced pension."

The report included 23 recommendations to be put in place by both Health Sciences North and the NE LHIN.

Kate Fyfe, vice president of performance and accountability with the NE LHIN, says work is being done so patients won't be affected.        

"What were able to do through the planned process is identify a number of areas where we could provide investment to support the transition of service," she said.

"When we looked at areas that were highest priority, we were focused on building community capacity. So areas that would provide support to our seniors and ensure that we could maintain patient flow within the hospital, so that the change wasn't just going to impact in a pressure on the hospital."