CUPE warns of closing hospital beds

CUPE hospital closures. Peter Anis, the vice president of CUPE local 2875 spoke about rolling closures of operating rooms for the summer at the Queensway Carleton Hospital, during a press conference at CUPE's national office on June 6. Jennifer McIntosh

In a press conference held at the national Canadian Union of Public Employees office on June 6, Local CUPE 2875 vice-president Peter Anis said that the two week closures of three operating rooms in July and August would likely result in a backlog of 240 surgeries.

The local represents the nurses and support staff at the Queensway Carleton.

During that period, emergency, cancer or wait-time targeted surgeries such as hip and knee replacements would proceed as usual, but elective procedures such as hernia operations and plastic surgery would be postponed.

Anis said when the union met with management they talked about extending the closures into December, March and February.

The hospital is yet to receive its funding allocation for the current fiscal year, so the closures are to make up for multi-million dollar budget shortfalls.

Anis said the closures were nothing new, with the hospital normally closing three of its eight operating rooms to accommodate vacations, but he worries with the increased use of this practice in the winter, that the hospital won’t be able to make up for the backlog of surgeries.

“It will put more pressure on the already busy times,” he said. “And if they find this formula works, what’s to stop them from making it permanent?”

Chief executive officer of the hospital, Tom Schonberg, accused CUPE of creating a grim picture.

 “The original plan without knowing the budget included potential shut downs for March and February, but when I met with them last Thursday I said I was optimistic that we would be able to avoid budget-related slowdowns in December,” he said, adding that he hoped to avoid slowdowns in March and February as well.

Schonberg said that negotiations with the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care would continue into June and hopefully result in a 1.5 per cent increase in the hospitals budget.

“There are monies we are going to get because of wait time strategies and monies for the expansion because of increasing patient volumes,” he said. “So I am optimistic.”

Anis said the union decided to make a public statement because public support ended up reversing the decision to use rolling closures at other Ottawa hospitals.

Michael Hurley, Ontario Council of Hospital Unions president, said that Ontario has the lowest number of hospital beds per 1,000 people of any province in the country.

He also said our hospitals are the most efficient, spending $250 less per citizen than any other province.

While Anis said he didn’t know what to suggest to the hospital to make up for the budget shortfalls, he said cancelling surgeries was not the way.

“We need to be having these surgeries,” he said.

About 50 staff will be displaced as a result of the closures and the union is currently working on re-deployment — which may mean staff working in another area of the hospital.

Anis said approximately five staff members would have to be temporarily laid off during the closure period.