(May 5, 2016)<\/p>\n
Author: Frank Matys, Orillia Today<\/p>\n
As residents voice concern over budget-driven cuts at Orillia\u2019s hospital, more details are emerging regarding other measures that are expected to bring savings to the bottom line.<\/p>\n
These include fewer hours at the hospital\u2019s cafeteria and a reduction in operating days at the cancer clinic.<\/p>\n
The details were made public during a packed meeting where local residents joined a growing chorus of communities calling for increased hospital funding and an end to the resulting job losses and bed closures.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe closures that you are seeing here in Orillia, the closures you are seeing in Pentang, and in Midland and all around us, those are mirrored all across the province,\u201d said Michael Hurley president of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions. \u201cHundreds of beds are closing every month in this province \u2013 that\u2019s the reality.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hospital volunteer Paul Gillett was among more than 100 people in attendance at the standing room-only meeting, held at the Best Western Mariposa Inn and Conference Centre.<\/p>\n
He offered a first-hand account of the stresses placed on staff and patients impacted by bed reductions.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cThe emerg is overloaded and then there\u2019s no beds,\u201d said Gillett. \u201cThey say there\u2019s no beds. There are beds but they are empty.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Ontario Health Coalition and the North Simcoe Muskoka and District Labour Council jointly hosted the town hall-style meeting, one of dozens that have taken place across Ontario over the past month-and-a-half.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never seen a movement like we\u2019re seeing now in Ontario to stop the cuts,\u201d said Natalie Mehra, the health coalition\u2019s executive director.<\/p>\n
A nurse who spoke with Simcoe.com said staff was recently told that Soldiers\u2019 had the highest rate of absenteeism due to sick time among hospital employees in Ontario.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what they told us this week,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Stress was at least partly to blame, the nurse added.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo many people are working double shifts because there is a lack of staff, and it is burning them out,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The audience also heard that the hospital\u2019s oncology clinic would operate four days a week starting in August, down from the current five days.<\/p>\n
Hospital spokesperson Terry Dyni told Simcoe.com the reduction is the result of lower-than-anticipated patient volumes since the clinic became a satellite of the regional centre in Barrie.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a corresponding savings as a result of moving from five days to four days, but the change was driven by the volume of patients seen in the clinic,\u201d he said by email.<\/p>\n
Audience members were encouraged to organize a local referendum on May 28 in tandem with communities across Ontario where hospitals are implementing cuts.<\/p>\n
Voting stations would be set up in local stores and other locations, with residents invited to cast ballots.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople could vote either \u2018yes\u2019 or \u2018no\u2019 to, either stop the cuts or don\u2019t,\u201d she said. \u201cThe ballots would be delivered to the premier.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr. Dick Johnston, who remains on staff in a \u201cperfunctory\u201d role, supports the proposal.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got to protect the publicly-funded health care system,\u201d Johnston, 75, said. \u201cIf we don\u2019t stand up and do referendums and come to meetings like this, we are going to lose the public system.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coun. Mason Ainsworth recommended municipalities act with \u201ca united voice\u201d in urging the province to increase hospital funding.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to pull them together \u2026 and say this is unacceptable in our cities and in our towns,\u201d Ainsworth said.<\/p>\n
Dyni confirmed the hospital\u2019s cafeteria would be operating on reduced hours, and closing on weekends starting July 1.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will be increasing food offerings in the kiosk \u2013 located in the main lobby \u2013 to help offset the reduced hours,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Dyni was unable to confirm whether Soldiers\u2019 rate of absenteeism was the highest in Ontario.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat said, we do have high volumes of sick time when compared to other Ontario hospitals,\u201d he added. \u201cOne of our budget initiatives this year is to reduce the amount of sick time.\u201d<\/p>\n
The hospital is exploring \u201calternative work arrangements\u201d as part of the plan to reduce costs associated with sick time.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf staff has communicable illnesses, we want them to take care of themselves at home,\u201d Dyni said.<\/p>\n