FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OTTAWA – On Tuesday morning, CUPE 4000 health care workers will be protesting 400 job eliminations at The Ottawa Hospital as provincial funding cuts threaten patient care at the city’s largest health care institution.
“The Ford government is doing a disservice to the citizens of Ottawa,” said Robert Gauthier, president of CUPE 4000. “These cuts will hurt staff and patients. It will lengthen wait-lists, delay care delivery, increase the risk of medical errors, and undermine the health of our patients. It will also drive workers away as they are exposed higher levels of stress, injuries and burnout – feeding into a cycle of perpetual understaffing and lower quality of care.”
The Ottawa Hospital is among 70 per cent of hospitals facing budget deficits across Ontario, as government funding falls short of cost-inflation in the sector. Due to the budget cuts, the hospital is eliminating nurses, personal support workers, and clerical staff in the CUPE bargaining unit alone.
Gauthier said that the staffing and capacity shortfall at The Ottawa Hospital sites is reflected by provincial Health Quality Ontario data: about 80 per cent of ER patients are not admitted within the eight-hour target time. On average, ER patients are currently waiting about 22 hours for admission.
In an ongoing survey of TOH staff conducted by CUPE 4000, staff warned about the current state of affairs and the potential impact of these cuts on patients and staff:
- “Staff are already running on fumes with all the vacant positions and [now] they are announcing more cuts.”
- “This will severely impact patient care. Nurses and patient care aids are already struggling to care for patients with the current ratios. Sick calls are at an all time high due to burnout. Eliminating staff will only force front line workers to work short in unsafe ratios.”
- “Burnout affects patient care in several ways: nurses may have less time for thorough assessments, delays in interventions can occur, and important changes in a patient’s condition may be missed. It also increases the risk of errors, as fatigue and cognitive overload impair clinical judgment. In addition, when staff are overwhelmed, there is less time for patient education, emotional support, and communication with families.”
CUPE 4000 represents about 4,300 health care workers across the three sites of The Ottawa Hospital, including registered practical nurses, personal support workers, clerical staff, support and environmental services.
Who: Health care workers at The Ottawa Hospital and community allies
Robert Gauthier, president of CUPE 4000
What: CUPE 4000 Stop the Cuts rally
Where: The Ottawa Hospital – Civic Campus, 1053 Carling Ave., Ottawa
When: 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, May 5
-30-
For more information, contact:
Zee Noorsumar
CUPE Communications
znoorsumar@cupe.ca
647-995-9859
