As hospital officials look to ‘align resources appropriately,’ up to 39 personal support worker positions will be eliminated over the next five months.
The job cuts come on the heels of a clinical staffing model review at Guelph General Hospital (GGH), with guidance from an outside facilitator, the hospital said.
“Our goal is to continue to maintain the level of exceptional care the community has come to expect from us, while ensuring we are aligning resources appropriately,” said GGH spokesperson Carla Kostiak, via email.
“These changes will not happen immediately and we will not have a final number until we work through the process outlined in our collective agreements, including options such as early retirement or exploring other employment opportunities in the hospital.”
All positions are reviewed regularly, she noted.
The job losses were announced in a letter issued last week, addressed to “all staff and professional staff,” from hospital CEO Mark Walton.
“We recognize the gravity of this action and the deep impact it will have on each of you,” he wrote, noting the decision wasn’t made lightly. “We want to be clear that our priority remains supporting those affected during this transition.”
A media spokesperson for the Canadian Union of Public Employees, which represents all 64 PSWs at GGH, declined to comment on the situation at this time, citing a need for more information.
“The personal support worker positions were put in place to support Guelph General Hospital through significant health human resource challenges,” Kostiak explained, referring to staffing impacts associated with the pandemic. “Now, in a more stable staffing position, adjustments to this position need to be made to ensure we continue to provide high quality care in a sustainable way.”
The goal, Walton’s letter explains, is to see the hospital’s staffing level set at about the same level as similar-sized hospitals.
In addition to eliminating positions, GGH is changing the tasks performed by PSWs, emphasizing patient observation in addition to direct care.
“If you're going to be removing them around, that means that there is going to be a negative patient impact, regardless of how you phrase it in the letter,” said Ian DaSilva, chief operating officer for the Ontario Personal Support Worker Association.
“PSWs in a hospital do the patient care,” he noted, using patient incontinence as an example. “They clean the patient. They do the bedding. They do everything that a nurse directs them to do.”
DaSilva was unaware of the planned job losses at GGH until approached by GuelphToday for comment.
“Our concern would be those who are being let go,” he said. “I mean, we need to work with them to find them another employment.”
