Union warned of job reductions at Concordia Hospital as suspected closure looms

Health authorities have indicatedsome jobs thatwill be eliminatedwhen orifthe emergency department at Concordia Hospitalcloses for good.

Formal notices issued to the Manitoba Association of Health Care Professionals statethere will be a "reduction and rotation change" for CT and ultrasound technologists, as well as physiotherapists and respiratory therapists, at the northeast Winnipeg hospital.

Another letter sent to the union, which requires notice of employment changes as part of their collective bargaining agreement,says it will be "revising lab services."

Union president Bob Morozsaid the advance warning from the employer must be sentat least 90 days before staffing changes are implemented.

Closure no earlier than June 24

The notices, issued in March from the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority and Shared Health, say the changes won't take effect until June 24 at the earliest, but offered no specifics on the number of employees at risk.

"They have to notify us it's because there's a reduction plan," he said.

Moroz said the concern of his membersis heightened by the uncertainty surrounding the emergency department's closure. Health Minister Cameron Friesenevenleft the door open slightly, in comments to media on Thursday, that ashutdown won't happen at all.

"We still don't really know exactly what their intendedcuts and reductions are at Concordia itself," Moroz said."It sounds to me as if they're still making plans, but we've known aboutConcordia for at least two years."

He said 30 to 40 MAHCPmembers have been left in limbo as they await the status of their positions. They are worried for their livelihoods, but alsotheir patientsand their remainingcolleagues who willdo more with less help, Morozsaid.

'Desperate for information'

"We're waiting for folks from the WRHAto finally get their act together and tell us what those final [staffing] numbers are, so that we can put the information in front of the people who are just so desperate for information."

Moroz suspects the positions will be shifted to other health care centres, but theemployees at Concordiaare not assured the transferred positions. They'd have to re-apply, andfunding for theirpositions may be divvied up.

The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority wouldn't say how many positions would be affected by any change at Concordia Hospital.

"We continue to meet with union reps to determine an agreed-upon employment security process before individual notifications are sent to the impacted employees," a spokesperson wrote in an email.

Friesen appeared to suggest earlier this week the closure ofConcordia'sER might bedelayed. Heneedsto be convinced the renovated ER at St.BonifaceHospital has the capacity and staffingto accommodate the expected influx of patients fromConcordiabefore signing off on the closure, he said at the time.

The province announced in 2017 it wouldclose three of the six emergency departments in the cityinan ambitious bid to find efficiencies in a health care system with among the worst wait times in the country.