Impending job cuts raises anxiety at Peterborough Regional Health Centre

The Central East LHIN, which oversaw a peer review that resulted in 220 job cuts in the Rouge Valley Healthcare system is deliberately downplaying the potential impact of the same process in Peterborough, says the union representing 540 employees at the Peterborough Regional Health Centre.

CUPE Local 1943 President Karen Ward reacted to the suggestion from the Central East LHIN that the union is spreading fear and anxiety among staff. "The Rouge Valley Health system is in the same LHIN as the Peterborough Regional Health Centre. The leadership of the Central East LHIN is fully aware that hospital budgets cannot be cut back without cuts to staff, beds, services and programs and that in the case of Rouge Valley 1 in 15 staff were eliminated."

Michael Hurley, president of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions, stated that "in every case across the province, where a hospital peer review has been conducted, staff and programs have been cut. What causes staff anxiety is the knowledge that hospital spending cannot be reduced without cutting staff, the knowledge that these budget decisions will be made without staff or community input and the fact that the leadership of the LHIN is pretending to hospital staff and the community that this is not an exercise in budget cutting."

Diane Crough, Central Eastern Ontario Vice-president for the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions stated that "postcards calling on Mr. Jeff Leal, MPP, to work to defend our community hospital and to open up this process to the community will be distributed starting next week."