(October 23, 2015)<\/p>\n
By\u00a0Chris Dawson, The Bay Today<\/p>\n
Shawn Shank says the stories were shocking.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey had horror stories like about\u00a0admission and early discharges and people going home sick,\u201d said Shank.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne person talked about getting 15 minutes a week of home care after having major surgery.\u201d<\/p>\n
The testimonials were part of a massive city-wide teleconference call which took place between 6:30 and 8:15\u00a0p.m. on Thursday night.<\/p>\n
The call was organized by CUPE as a way to educate the public about what P3 hospitals are all about.<\/p>\n
Back in September the North Bay Regional Hospital announced that 158 full-time positions will be cut, likely all before Christmas.<\/p>\n
Shank, who is the CUPE local 138 President, estimates close to 5,000 people took part in the call.<\/p>\n
He\u00a0was joined on the massive teleconference call by\u00a0CUPE National president, Paul Moist and Ontario Health Coalition (OHC) director, Natalie Mehra.<\/p>\n
CUPE also announced it\u00a0will be holding another hospital rally on November 30th at Lee Park.\u00a0 The event is sponsored by the Ontario Health Coalition.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo basically that\u2019s going to be an event\u00a0where the people of North Bay can\u00a0basically speak out against the cuts to the city. And, what they are planning on doing, is streaming the protest live to Queen\u2019s Park while all the M.P.\u2019s are in the legislature,\u201d said Shank.<\/p>\n
Their message to the Premier and the MP\u2019s will be “please finance the local\u00a0hospital properly”.<\/p>\n
\u2018Being a P3 hospital it costs a fortune to keep this place going and unfortunately because of the P3 model frontline workers are losing, beds are closing, services are being cut. It\u2019s really important that we get back to why we are here is to help people and provide services to the people of North Bay,\u201d concluded Shank.<\/p>\n
CUPE\u00a0officials believe the message needs to get out there as more cuts could be on the horizon.\u00a0 They believe another 50 jobs could be in jeopardy at the North Bay Regional Health Centre if the province doesn\u2019t inject more funding now.<\/p>\n