Category Archives: Mental Health

KINGSTON – The Ontario Public Service Employees Union is calling on the McGuinty government to take steps to protect mental health services after a minimum of 10 layoffs was announced last week at Providence Care hospital.

The layoffs follow a pattern of similar cuts across the province in the run-up to this spring’s provincial budget.

“Cutting public sector jobs is a strange way to stimulate the struggling economy,” said Warren (Smokey) Thomas. “We won’t pay down the deficit by putting Ontarians out of work.”

Hospitals have been told to plan for three scenarios – a funding freeze, a one per cent and two per cent increase.

The cuts will impact services around integrating mental health patients with the community and providing outreach services. This includes individualized counselling around vocational services and leisure life skills.

The impending reorganization will see the number of nurses (RNs and RPNs) on the floors decrease and take away front-line allied health staff. It will also see a decrease in the number of unregulated health professionals.

“The province and LHIN have told us that mental health is a major priority,” says Sheryl Ferguson, president of OPSEU Local 431 at Providence Care. “It’s time for them to stop talking about it and take action to save these services.”

The cuts in Kingston ignore a recent consultant’s report on the operation of the hospital including improvement of staff to patient ratios. No mention of management jobs has yet been made, although the report called for the management model to be fixed.

Annual savings are expected to be $2.5 million, although only $1.7 million will be saved in 2010/11.

Both the Providence Care’s St. Mary’s of the Lake and Mental Health Services sites targeted their local OPSEU presidents for layoff, suggesting a new chill in labour relations at the hospital.

The cuts also follow on the heels of a $1 million grant Providence Care received last year to support programs aimed at recruitment and retention.

NORTH BAY – A proposal to transfer 31 psychiatric rehabilitation beds out of the city of North Bay will mean the loss of dozens of jobs, warns the union representing staff at North East Mental Health Centre (NEMHC).

OPSEU is asking for a moratorium on any bed transfers until the full impact to the community is known.

Sue Brown, OPSEU Regional Vice-President and member of Local 636 at NEMHC, says that the loss of these beds will not only affect patient care, but could impact 50-100 jobs in North Bay.

“This area can’t afford to lose any more stable, well-paying jobs,” Brown said. “We must make every attempt to keep these patient services in North Bay.” At issue is a so-called “lack of space” at the new North Bay Hospital.

Services at NEMHC will be amalgamated into the hospital when the scheduled closure of NEMHC occurs in early 2011, and the hospital says there is no room for the 31 psychiatric beds.

OPSEU Local 636 president Jackie Smythe says that every attempt must be made to keep services and jobs in North Bay.

“Recommendations to the Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) are that the beds be moved to Sudbury or Sault Ste. Marie,” Smythe said. “We need to know what the full extent of the job loss will be here before a decision like that is made.” At a meeting held Monday night, North Bay city council voted unanimously in favour of a motion to keep the 31 beds in North Bay.