39 beds to close at Centenary

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Layoff notices were handed out Thursday afternoon to 47 nurses at Rouge Valley Health System, according to a union spokesperson.

"This is Nurses' Week so the Rouge Valley laid off 47 nurses on Nurses' Week so we're not really feeling benevolent to this employer," said Carol Oates, bargaining unit president for Ontario Nurses Association Local 24 at the hospital.

In addition to giving pink slips to 40 full-time and seven part-time nurses, the hospital told the union it is closing 39 beds at its Centenary site in Scarborough, Oates said.

Rouge Valley president Rik Ganderton could not immediately be reached for comment Friday morning.

But in a press release, he said the hospital is moving forward with a three-year cost-cutting plan first announced in March.

Layoffs and cutbacks had been put on hold when the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) pursued a motion for an injunction, which was to have been held Friday. However, OPSEU this week withdrew its request.

Instead, an application for a judicial review of the cutbacks worked out between Rouge Valley and the Central East Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) will now be heard July 11.

But OPSEU's decision to withdraw its request for an injunction opened the door for Rouge Valley to begin cutbacks to address its $40-million operating and further $38-million capital debt, Ganderton said in the press release.

"With the removal of this potential injunction, (Rouge Valley) is now in a position to implement our plan. We have recently provided formal notification to our various unions," he said, adding early retirement, voluntary exit packages and not filling vacant positions will minimize the number of workers pushed out.

"This has been a very difficult time for all our staff. We all know that we had to take these difficult actions to improve our hospital system. We are now into implementation and the transformation of (Rouge Valley) into a higher performing, higher quality hospital."

He thanked doctors, staff and volunteers "for their commitment during this difficult time. We look forward to successfully transforming (Rouge Valley) to be the best at what we do."

In its plan released in March, the hospital announced it is cutting 220 jobs over three years.

In addition, it said Centenary would lose some of its 295 adults beds, including 36 between surgery, cardiology and complex continuing care alone.

At the same time, psychiatric beds at the Ajax-Pickering site would be transferred to Centenary, a decision that incensed OPSEU and led to its initial quest for an injunction and now a judicial review.