The union representing workers at Bruyère Health is pushing back against a plan to lay off dozens of personal support workers and nurses, saying it will negatively affect patient care. The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) said patient care at Bruyère Health is already at risk due to low staffing levels and these planned cuts will only make it worse. “It’s mind-boggling to hear about job cuts at our hospital when care is already at breaking point,” said registered nurse and president of CUPE 4540 Douglas Currier. “I have worked as a nurse here for over 30 years and I have never seen this level of exhaustion among staff. The staffing shortage is already hurting our ability to provide quality care – more cuts will be devastating for our community.” CUPE said a recent union survey found that 67 per cent of Bruyère staff said they work through their breaks due to understaffing. “This call to go back to a better time, that somehow there can be an addition of care by a subtraction of staff, I don’t see how it’s going to happen,” Currier said. “We feel like hostages to Premier Ford and his budget, and that 55 CUPE members are the first casualties.” In a statement to CTV News Ottawa, Bruyère Health said 46 personal care attendant and nine registered practical nurse positions will go through a “redeployment process.” “Twelve of these positions are vacant (9 PCAs and 3 RPNs). The redeployment of these positions will align our staffing levels with those of similar health care organizations,” Bruyère said. “The redeployment process includes reassignment and transfer, canvassing for voluntary departures, and potential layoffs. We are following structured processes defined in the collective agreement.” The hospital said it is working to minimize the impact of the changes to employees and patient care. With files from CTV News Ottawa’s Camille Wilson
