More front-line nursing jobs eliminated in Calgary

United Nurses of Alberta has been informed of more layoffs of Registered Nurses from front-line nursing jobs at the Rockyview General Hospital in Calgary.

UNA representatives were told that another 13 RNs in the hospital’s Medical Assessment Unit would see their positions eliminated, on top of close to 50 other RN jobs that have been eliminated at the facility since May.

The layoffs are the result of the decision by AHS to close the 12-bed unit and consolidate remaining staff with another unit. Several temporary positions will also be eliminated.

“Layoffs like these are adding up to a serious problem that is certain to have an impact on patient safety and the quality of care that can be provided at Rockyview Hospital and at hospitals undergoing similar layoffs throughout Alberta,” UNA First Vice-President Bev Dick said today.

She noted that on June 17, 13 RN positions were eliminated at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton as a result of what is being termed the “new staffing model” being introduced by Alberta Health Services at hospitals throughout the province.

These are among about 200 RN positions eliminated since the start of May that UNA has been officially informed of by AHS.

Dick noted that UNA is now in bargaining with AHS and that the union’s bargaining team has filed a complaint with the Alberta Labour Relations Board. The complaint argues that by refusing to provide information about the scope and number of the layoffs the employer is bargaining in bad faith. The ALRB has not yet set a date for a hearing.

UNA has also formally asked AHS to provide a copy of its statements, as required by law of an employer that says its proposals are based on an inability to pay, as the health authority has claimed.

“It is particularly shocking that this is going on at a time we know AHS senior executives will be paid millions of dollars in bonuses and there is at least a $100-million surplus in the health care system,” Dick said.

On the topic of the new staffing model, Dick said that “nurses who work in units affected report nursing staff is cut by about half when the model is implemented.”

“Under this approach, trained and skilled Registered Nurses and Licensed Practical Nurses are replaced with unskilled and unregulated health care aides who have only a few weeks of training, plus additional managers,” she said.

“There is no question that this will also have a serious impact on patient safety and quality of care, and AHS leaders cannot just shrug this off as a simple reassignment of staff or claim that it is not related to a political need to be seen to be cutting costs,” she stated.

“It’s disgraceful that this is being done by a minister in a government that campaigned on a promise to preserve and enhance public sector health care,” she said.

The reductions in front-line nursing staff appear to be being carried out in a helter-skelter fashion, with no overall provincial strategy apparent and no meaningful numbers provided by AHS leadership to stakeholders. 

“This situation needs to be addressed immediately and openly by the government, which now runs Alberta Health Care directly, to ensure that Albertans can be confident front-line health care will continue without a serious decline in quality and safety,” Dick concluded. 

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