BY RICK PUSIAK
More than 100 Sudbury employees of the Victorian Order of Nurses (VON) may lose their jobs in the next couple of months after the organization failed to win a competition for a new contract with the Manitoulin-Sudbury Community Care Access Centre (CCAC).
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The CCAC, a provincially appointed body responsible for providing services such as home care, asked for bids in the fall for a three-year contract.
Chair Richard Zanibbi said the VON bid was 27 per cent higher than the $2.2 submitted by Canadian health-care provider Bayshore HealthCare, based in Mississauga.
Â?The gap was too significant to ignore,Â? said Zanibbi. Â?They (Bayshore) met all the other criteria equally, as far as the system that we employ to measure the bid offers.Â?
The former Sudbury police chief said the hourly rate paid to the Bayshore nurses will remain the same as the rate paid to VON nurses.
Benefit packages provided to the VON employees ultimately proved to be too expensive, said Zanibbi.
He stressed awarding the contract to Bayshore was not an easy decision.
Â?Not when youÂ?ve had a provider such as VON,Â? said Zanibbi. Â?Some board members still had some concerns in changing as everyone else doesÂ?We have a budget, we have a certain caseload of clients. We want to ensure weÂ?re able to serve those clients. We cannot run a deficit. We are mandated by (provincial) legislation.
Â?We donÂ?t have that luxuryÂ?we have to come in on budget, to ensure and try to forecast over the next three years we continue to meet the needs of the community with regard to the number of clients we serve and weÂ?ll have the money to do that.Â?
Zanibbi said he realizes there will be some reaction to the awarding of the contract to Bayshore.
Â?What IÂ?m saying is letÂ?s be reasonable. LetÂ?s give the successful bidder an opportunity. We have a quality management program which is very well structured which reports to the (CCAC) board regularly so that we monitor, we are informed of the level of service and or the concerns with the level of service on a regular basis.Â?
The final approval on the new contract with Bayshore was voted on and approved two weeks ago.
When the contract was tendered in the fall five organizations expressed interest in the job. Eventually it came down to Bayshore and the VON.
Victoria Order of Nurses spokesperson Joanna Horne told Northern Life she was shocked and disappointed to learn VON had lost the contract.
Â?We had inherent advantage in knowing the environment we had been operating in and (the contract) price reflected (the) challenge in delivering community health,Â? said Horne.
The nursing contract reflected about a third of the VONÂ?s business.
She said 123 nurses, including permanent and casual employees, will be affected. Some may lose their jobs.
Â?WeÂ?re optimistic the new provider...will perhaps be interested in working with us, given there is a severe resource shortage (they) may want to sub-contract some of our nursing personnel,Â? said Horne.
The loss of the contract comes as the local chapter of the VON is celebrating its 80th anniversary.
Â?WeÂ?re still going to be here, of course,Â? said Horne. Â?But weÂ?ve been known as a nursing service, and this is a setback for us, and it will be significantly shrinking our nursing services.Â?
Horne fears there will inevitably be some termination of employees.
The current contract expires March 31 and Horne said there will be co-operation during a transition period over the next couple of months.
Clients donÂ?t have to worry about disruption in care, she said.
Horne admitted, however, itÂ?s not the happiest of times.
Â?When we delivered the news to the nursing staff and we saw the looks on their faces, it just tears at your heart because itÂ?s through no fault of their own,Â? said Horne.
Â?TheyÂ?re excellent nursing professionals. TheyÂ?ve given it their all. Now theyÂ?re facing, potentially, loss of employment relationshipÂ?pension, benefit, seniority.Â?
Horne said it is hoped that the nurses who are dismissed will stay in the health community system.
She noted it would be a severe loss to Sudbury if more nursing personnel were to be lost through retirement or career change.
Â?Inevitably there will be a large portion that decide to leave community nursing which will be the greater shame,Â? said Horne.
The VON employs a total 750 people in the community, involving nursing professionals involved in personal support and home making for seniors and the infirmed.
Formed in 1896 the VON is CanadaÂ?s oldest and most respected care provider.
ItÂ?s the only non-profit organization in the country dedicated to the provision of innovative primary health services in response to community identified needs.
