Local union says Hamilton hospital job cuts already affecting patient care

Hospital union CUPE Local 7800 warns that staff cuts mean longer waits, fewer services and risks to patient safety.

In Hamilton, CUPE says the impact is already being felt, linking closures to job cuts at Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS).

“We’re seeing clinics close, so one clinic is at Juravinski, that’s a gynecology, urology and abortion clinic,” said President of CUPE Local 7800 Jillian Watt. “We’ve been told they’re dispersing the work, but we haven’t had a solid answer as to if HHS will still be offering that procedure, which is an abortion.”

Watt says the Juravinski Clinic isn’t the only closure resulting from recent healthcare cuts.

“We have the SSMU, which is a Short Stay Medical Unit that’s closing,” said Watt.

READ MORE: Ontario hospital in deficit cutting over 100 nursing roles, adding other positions

She links both closures to the recent healthcare layoffs.

“It’s connected to the job cuts, absolutely, and what happens is there isn’t anywhere for these patients to go,” said Watt.

Watt says HHS have cut 114 jobs since Friday.

“We have three full days scheduled to discuss the remaining cuts,” said Watt.

Meetings between the union and the hospitals are scheduled to happen Thursday, Friday and next Wednesday, with up to 110 more cuts expected.

WATCH MORE: Hundreds of health-care workers protest against planned HHS job cuts

At a press conference Wednesday morning, the Ontario Nurses Association said 3.1 million hours of patient care will be lost because of these layoffs.

Watts says this impact is being felt directly in Hamilton.

“When you’re averaging a hospital wait time of 21 to 24 hours, when you’re spending days on a stretcher in a hospital hallway because they don’t have beds for you on the unit, and when you’re spending additional time on a bed in a hallway, this is what this means,” said Watts.

Outside Hamilton General Hospital, patients described waiting hours for care.

CHCH News reached out to HHS and St. Joseph’s Healthcare regarding both the job cuts and wait times.

READ MORE: HHS to cut over 413 positions including 143 nurses

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Health said in a statement in part, “CUPE’s claims are entirely misguided.”

“To be clear, the changes Hamilton Health Sciences is making will not impact patient access to care or services,” the spokesperson went on to say in the statement.

St. Joseph’s Healthcare said in a statement, it “introduced a new staffing model that will help ensure we are connecting patients to the right care at the right time. As part of this staffing model change, we eliminated 57 RN positions and created 80 new care positions.”

The statement went on to say it will be increasing staff in other areas.

A town hall will be held on Nov. 10, at the Steelworkers Hall on Barton Street to discuss the cuts, and push for proper hospital funding.

WATCH MORE: Patient care at risk as more layoffs announced for Hamilton hospitals