Layoffs at St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital will harm patient care: OPSEU

ST THOMAS, ON, Feb. 16, 2016 /CNW/ - Planned staff layoffs at St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital (STEGH) are guaranteed to harm patient care, the Ontario Public Service Employees Union says.

"The hospital is cutting registered nurses, medical lab services for outpatients and IT services," said OPSEU staff representative Carol Warner. "It will also lose clerical and administrative staff that make the hospital function. "All of these workers play a vital role in the quality of care STEGH provides."

OPSEU President Warren (Smokey) Thomas said the hospital doesn't need to look far to find other ways to find savings.

"It's not the hands-on workers that should be laid off," he said. "If management is looking for money, it should start with executive salaries. There's one manager at STEGH who makes more than $230,000 a year for a part-time job. Salaries like that can't be justified."

The hospital has not said exactly how many workers will lose their jobs. It has announced a savings target of $1 million from the cuts.

OPSEU represents more than 500 workers at STEGH.

SOURCE Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU)

Staff Representative Carol Warner, 519-319-1736