Ottawa Hospital plans to cut 3% of its workforce to address budget pressures

The Ottawa Hospital says it is cutting three per cent of its workforce because of budget pressures. CTV’s Josh Marano reports.

Ottawa’s largest hospital plans to cut three per cent of its workforce over the next few months as it deals with budget pressures, which would equate to approximately 400 positions.

The Ottawa Hospital confirms to CTV News Ottawa that while it has implemented a series of measures to reduce budget pressures and find savings, there will “be some reductions to job positions in the coming months.”

“We are in the process of working with unions and teams throughout the hospital to finalize specific details,” a hospital spokesperson said in a statement.

“These reductions amount to three per cent of our overall workforce, however through vacancy management and early retirement options, we will work to limit any involuntary departures.”

The Ottawa Hospital says it is committed to “maintaining our capacity to provide specialized services for emergencies, surgeries, clinics and inpatient care while continuing to find new, innovative and more efficient ways to deliver care to our community.”

According to the Ottawa Hospital’s 2024-25 annual report, there are 13,281 employees at the hospital, including 5,200 nurses, 1,724 physicians and 1,186 resident physicians.

The hospital says it has been working with the Ontario government to “address the financial challenges facing the health-care sector.”

“Starting in 2025, TOH began a comprehensive benchmarking exercise involving medical, clinical and non-clinical leaders to compare its operations to those of peer hospitals,” the hospital said.

“This work has informed a broader review of hospital operations and spending. We are working to protect jobs and maintain access to service so we can continue to provide excellent care for our community.”

The Ottawa Hospital says it has implemented a “series of measures to reduce budget pressures, find savings and preserve health care positions.”

“These include offering early retirement for those who are eligible, freezing and eliminating vacant positions, implementing innovative ways to provide care that are more efficient, returning to pre-COVID funded levels of staffing, freezing travel, and moving to a more economical provincial group benefits plan,” the hospital said.

Natalie Mehra, executive director of the Ontario Health Coalition, says the cuts are a “devastating blow” to the Ottawa Hospital.

“You may be able to run a hospital without a CEO. You cannot run a hospital without the health professionals, the nurses, the cleaners, the people who feed the patients, all the support staff, all of them are required to run the hospitals,” Mehra said.

The Ottawa Hospital operates three campuses: the Civic Campus on Carling Avenue, the General Campus on Smyth Road and the Riverside Campus.

Montfort Hospital

A spokesperson for the Montfort Hospital tells CTV News Ottawa the hospital is “not planning to reduce our overall workforce for the fiscal year ahead.”

“Montfort takes a performance management approach, which is reflected in its financial performance,” the hospital said.

“Each year, Montfort increases its efficiency while maintaining its effectiveness, ensuring that access to care, quality and the well-being of our teams are not compromised. We make extensive use of benchmarking with peer hospitals. Balancing our budget was made possible due to sustained efforts to improve financial performance, including containing expenditure growth and ensuring efficient procurement management, for example.”

The Montfort Hospital said it achieved a balanced operating budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year.

“For 2026-2027, our Board of Directors is allowing us to forecast a deficit as long as it does not exceed the average of peer hospitals,” the hospital said.

“Our consultations with 42 Ontario hospitals indicate that 38 of them are forecasting a deficit, with a median projected deficit of 3.1 per cent of revenue and an average of 3.7 per cent. Our financial performance will continue to be better than peer hospitals. We aim to return to a balanced operating budget by 2027-2028.”

Queensway-Carleton Hospital

The Queensway-Carleton Hospital said no decisions on staff will be made until its Budget Recovery Initiative is complete.

“Budget is a challenge at QCH, like it is for the broader hospital sector. One of our top priorities for both the last and new fiscal year is our Budget Recovery Initiative – an in-depth look at all hospital expenditures and revenue opportunities, leveraging benchmarking with the intent to build a sustainable long-term plan,” the hospital said on Friday.

“As proposals come forward, some are given the green light to move ahead now, as they are relatively simple and straight forward. Others are more complex and will be further reviewed. No decisions will be made on these until that process is complete – likely the summer.“

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