Health Coalition plans protest outside MPP's office

The Ontario Health Coalition plans to stage a protest outside of Sudbury MPP Glenn Thibeault's office April 17, to draw attention to recent hospital cuts in Northern Ontario, including those recently announced at Health Sciences North.

“Already, many hospitals are operating at full capacity, often with patients lined up in stretchers in hallways waiting for hospital beds,” the Ontario Health Coalition said in a press release.

“After decades of downsizing, Ontario’s hospitals have been cut more deeply than anywhere in Canada, and now have the fewest beds left of any province in the country. The massive cuts to programs, services, departments all across the hospitals and hundreds of nurses, front-line personal support workers, and support and clerical staff put patients at risk.”

In late March, Health Sciences North announced it would need to cut $5.2 million in spending to balances its budget for the 2015-2016 fiscal year.

The cut in spending, the hospital said, will result a reduction of just over 35 full-time equivalent non-management positions, or about one per cent of unionized positions at the hospital.

Health Science North will also cut 6.4 full-time equivalent management positions, or around three per cent of total management employees.

The hospital said it could achieve the cuts without any nurse layoffs.

“To minimize the impact on patients and employees, HSN has focused its efforts on finding efficiencies using such measures as not filling existing vacancies, attrition, and reductions in scheduled hours,” the hospital said in a press release at the time.

“HSN anticipates that no nurses will have to leave the system. There are 44 vacancies for RNs and RPNs at HSN which would accommodate any nursing impact.”

The protest will begin at 12 p.m. outside Thibeault's constituency office, located at 555 Barrydowne Road.