Union says hospital funding announcement ‘smoke and mirrors’
Local healthcare workers continue to rally against job cuts at the North Bay Regional Health Centre.
“North Bay deserves better than excuses, “says Kevin Cook, First Vice President with the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions – Canadian Union of Public Employees. “It deserves investments, not cuts. It deserves frontline workers. Not fewer staff and more burnout.”
The union was rallying outside of MPP Vic Fedeli’s office on Monday.
Budget adjustments, including 40 job cuts, were announced by the North Bay Regional Health Centre in late October to find $5.6 million in savings.
Mike Turgeon, CUPE Local 103 President, says $15 million in funding announced by Fedeli last week is not changing that.
“[It’s] smoke and mirrors,” he says. “That’s money that was already anticipated by the hospital. The 1.9% that they told our fiscal advisory committee is what they were projecting as an increase this year, so they got exactly what they predicted and they’re still falling at a $5.6 million deficit.”
Along with planning rallies, Turgeon says they will have a motorcade going through the city next month, rallying at the hospital to show support for frontline health workers.
Richard Coffinhttps://www.mynorthbaynow.com/Richard Coffin has been a reporter and news anchor on the radio in North Bay for over 25 years. From premiers to people in the neighbourhood, he enjoys connecting with newsmakers and writing stories that matter to area listeners on a variety of topics including healthcare, education, politics, sports and more.