The union representing nurses at the McGill University Health Centre is speaking out about what it calls improvised budget cuts that “don’t take into account the impact on care.”
On Thursday, the Syndicat des professionnelles en soins infirmiers et cardiorespiratoires du CUSM (SPSICR-CUSM) issued a statement saying that there is no clear picture on just how the budget cuts are being done.
“For weeks, the employer has announced department mergers, bed closings, has abolished the positions of nurses and auxiliary nurses and this without giving clear explanations or logical justifications,” said Denyse Joseph, president of the SPSICR-CUSM.
“Unfortunately, the decisions seem to be motivated by management based on a calculation made on an Excel spreadsheet rather than the quality of care being offered to the population,” she added.
The union is also concerned how the cuts will impact the employees who remain at the MUHC.
“The situation becomes more and more intolerable and we see an increase in the level of distress in our members,” Joseph said, adding that the cuts make delivering quality care “mission impossible” for some members.
She is urging hospital administrators to offer answers to the numerous concerns of union members.
Late in the afternoon, the MUHC refuted the union’s claims.
In a statement, it said that since it was mandated to become an ultra-specialized facility, it has “conducted meetings with the clinical mission executives in order to align our operations to our mandate.”
The hospital network said the impact of the budget cuts was carefully weighed when making decisions.
“A great deal of time was spent assessing the potential impact that our new funding parameters impose on some vital areas of the MUHC, such as the emergency departments, operating rooms or oncology wait times. With the moneys allocated, the MUHC will maintain 799 permanent beds, at our historical occupancy rate, while closing temporarily beds during the summer holidays, spring break and the holiday season, where activity has traditionally been reduced.”
“We are confident that, although the changes being implemented will affect services at the MUHC, with the support of our new technical platform in addition to our network partners, we will be able to mitigate greatly the impacts and be able to continue offering the best quality of care for the most acute patients.”
