Union warned of job reductions at Concordia Hospital as suspected closure looms
Ian Froese | CBC News | Posted: May 3, 2019 10:00 AM | Last Updated: May 3, 2019
CT and ultrasound technologists, physiotherapists and respiratory therapists at risk of deletion notices
Health authorities have indicated some jobs that will be eliminated when or if the emergency department at Concordia Hospital closes for good.
Formal notices issued to the Manitoba Association of Health Care Professionals state there will be a "reduction and rotation change" for CT and ultrasound technologists, as well as physiotherapists and respiratory therapists, at the northeast Winnipeg hospital.
Another letter sent to the union, which requires notice of employment changes as part of their collective bargaining agreement, says it will be "revising lab services."
Union president Bob Moroz said the advance warning from the employer must be sent at least 90 days before staffing changes are implemented.
Closure no earlier than June 24
The notices, issued in March from the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority and Shared Health, say the changes won't take effect until June 24 at the earliest, but offered no specifics on the number of employees at risk.
"They have to notify us — it's because there's a reduction plan," he said.
Moroz said the concern of his members is heightened by the uncertainty surrounding the emergency department's closure. Health Minister Cameron Friesen even left the door open slightly, in comments to media on Thursday, that a shutdown won't happen at all.
"We still don't really know exactly what their intended cuts and reductions are at Concordia itself," Moroz said. "It sounds to me as if they're still making plans, but we've known about Concordia for at least two years."
He said 30 to 40 MAHCP members have been left in limbo as they await the status of their positions. They are worried for their livelihoods, but also their patients and their remaining colleagues who will do more with less help, Moroz said.
'Desperate for information'
"We're waiting for folks from the WRHA to finally get their act together and tell us what those final [staffing] numbers are, so that we can put the information in front of the people who are just so desperate for information."
Moroz suspects the positions will be shifted to other health care centres, but the employees at Concordia are not assured the transferred positions. They'd have to re-apply, and funding for their positions may be divvied up.
The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority wouldn't say how many positions would be affected by any change at Concordia Hospital.
"We continue to meet with union reps to determine an agreed-upon employment security process before individual notifications are sent to the impacted employees," a spokesperson wrote in an email.
Friesen appeared to suggest earlier this week the closure of Concordia's ER might be delayed. He needs to be convinced the renovated ER at St. Boniface Hospital has the capacity and staffing to accommodate the expected influx of patients from Concordia before signing off on the closure, he said at the time.
The province announced in 2017 it would close three of the six emergency departments in the city in an ambitious bid to find efficiencies in a health care system with among the worst wait times in the country.