(November 11, 2025) By: Darren MacDonald, CTV News<\/p>\n
Unionized workers at the North Bay Regional Health Centre are planning to hold a rally on Wednesday, in the wake of a recent announcement that 40 positions are being cut as the hospital grapples with a $5.6 million deficit.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn Wednesday at 11:30 a.m., hospital staff represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees, Ontario Nurses Association and Ontario Public Service Employees Union, in coordination with the local chapter of the Ontario Health Coalition, are holding a rally outside the hospital demanding that the government fund the hospital properly,\u201d CUPE said in a news release Tuesday.<\/p>\n
While 40 full- and part-time positions are being eliminated, the hospital said in the announcement last month that actual layoffs could be much lower when retirement and attrition are factored in, as well as the fact that 14 new positions are being created.<\/p>\n
However, CUPE said the hospital should be adding staff, not cutting positions.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have nurses, PSWs and clerical staff who are desperate for more hands on deck. I recently spoke with a nurse who cries in the washroom on her breaks because it is heart-wrenching for her to not be able to provide the care that people need,\u201d Mike Turgeon, president of CUPE 139, is quoted as saying in the release.<\/p>\n