Earlier today, Gélinas tweeted that Health Sciences North (HSN) was expected to cut 34 jobs.
When contacted by NorthernLife.ca, HSN spokesperson Dan Lessard didn't rule out the possibility of job cuts, but said trying to put a number on any potential cuts is impossible now as the hospital is still in the midst of its budget process.
“We don't have a number yet,” Lessard told reporter Jonathan Migneault. “We're still in the process of looking at how we can find efficiencies, and that includes things like not filling a vacancy through attrition.”
Word also came down today that Sault Area Hospital was cutting 14 registered nurses jobs.
The media coverage prompted the ministry to issue a statement promising that, regardless of cuts to northern hospitals, it will ensure access to quality health care.
The statement from Shannon Zimmerman, an issues manager with the ministry, reads:
While Health Sciences North continues to engage in their budget deliberations, it’s important to note that we are committed to ensuring that Northern Ontarians have the access to quality health care that they deserve. Because of our investments, there were 1,090 more nurses working in the North East LHIN that serves Sudbury compared to 2005.
We have increased hospital funding by more than 54% across the north and established Ontario’s first ever nurse practitioner led clinic in Sudbury, and 7 others just like it across the north.
Additionally, in 2005 we established the Northern Ontario School of Medicine – Ontario’s first new medical school in decades. NOSM has been instrumental in our efforts to enhance primary care services across the north, graduating over 300 students to date. We have established the Northern, Rural, Recruitment and Retention Initiative – recruiting over 450 new doctors to date.
We recognize that northerners face some unique health care challenges, and we continue to work hard to address those concerns.
