Health & Fitness

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The Ontario Public Service Employee Union (OPSEU) is disappointed with the leadership of the South Bruce Grey Health Centre which includes hospital sites in Kincardine, Walkerton, Durham and Chesley.

Jill McIlwraith, chairperson of OPSEU's health care divisional council, spoke in Kincardine and Durham yesterday (June 9), calling on the hospital board to listen to its staff and community in making hospital improvement a collaborative effort.

"At OPSEU, we are tired of seeing our local leadership here treated with disrespect and told to 'shut up' at meetings," she said. "We think it is no coincidence that the local OPSEU leadership appears to be the constant target for discipline from the hospital."

The union is appalled that the vice-president of labour relations would override the advice of local doctors in deciding the return date of sick and injured workers.

"One long-service employee was recently told by her doctor she could not return to work for 30 days following surgery," said McIlwraith. "The hospital insists she return to work in 10 days."

The union said grievances are not being solved in a timely manner, and the number of grievances is escalating rapidly.

McIlwraith said at other hospitals the local executive freely expresses its views as elected representatives. However, this is not the case with the South Bruce Grey Health Centre where workers are fearful for their jobs.

"We do not think it is in the public interest for the hospital board to maintain policies prohibiting staff from talking about what's taking place at the health centre," she said.

At the beginning of May, OPSEU president Warren (Smokey) Thomas wrote to the chief executive officer (Paul Davies) and board chairman (Dan Gieruszak) inviting them to sit down and resolve what has been a rapidly-deteriorating labour relations environment, said McIlwraith.

"Despite the urgency of this situation, we have not had a reply," she said.

The union is concerned that the health centre is undergoing a number of changes that are stressful to the work environment, including the conversion of food services and housekeeping workers into multi-site, multi-purpose workers.

"By bringing in frozen processed meals to be reheated and served to patients, the plan was to have saved money by reducing staff," said McIlwraith. "Those remaining staff would reheat and serve the meals, then spend the rest of their shift cleaning the four hospital sites. Originally, the hospital board said this would reduce the need for 15 full-time equivalent staff. With morale so poor, there was no problem finding 12 staff willing to take voluntary exits."

Surprisingly, the voluntary exits meant there was no need for layoffs, said McIlwraith. 

In fact, the hospital board required one of the 12 to remain and now has to hire six more workers to fill these multi-site positions. The 11 are still leaving. "Does this make any sense?" asked McIlwraith.

For those 11 who are leaving, they have not been told what their final employment date will be, she said. "They have been left dangling, unable to move on with their lives, to find another job - at least not without giving up on the severance package earned from years of service. Twelve people volunteered to assist the hospital in its downsizing efforts, and now it appears the hospital is barely downsizing at all."

McIlwraith said a poor labour relations environment affects the care patients receive. "Recently, a cook quit at Walkerton. The hospital plans to move Chesley's cook to Walkerton. Starting next week, the union has been told patients in Chesley will be eating microwaved food.

"Hospital budgets are tight these days. We get that. We'd rather work together to find ways to maintain quality care at our hospitals. Instead, we're not only being shut out of key decisions, but we're being told to shut up and keep in our place.

"If the hospital board is not willing to talk to us and treat our members respectfully, we're prepared to stand up for our members and promise to make this a truly hot summer for (CEO) Paul Davies."

Also at the press conference were Natalie Mehra, director of the Ontario Health Coalition, Maryellen Pollard and Ken Goldspink of the Friends of the Kincardine Hospital, and Dave Trumble of the Grey-Bruce Labour Council.

Mehra said the coalition has received numerous complaints about the South Bruce Grey Health Centre. "It does not have a deficit so why is it still making cuts, such as to the food services?"

Re-therm meals, she said, are poor quality and create a lot of waste because patients won't eat them.

Another concern of the coalition is allowing people to take patient records home to do their work. "That is totally inappropriate," said Mehra.

She said the hospital board is not listening to its own community, there is a culture of secrecy, and decisions are made without any consultation with anyone.

The coalition is working with the Friends group to distribute leaflets June 19, beginning at 10 a.m., throughout the community at all four hospital sites of the South Bruce Grey Health Centre. This will encourage people to speak out about the changes to their hospitals and urge the board to create a more open and respectful culture.

Pollard said the current CEO is going to end up leaving a legacy of chaos and confusion at the health centre. "The hospital board cannot ignore the fact that nearly three of every four Kincardine residents polled want to see their hospital taken out of the amalgamated health centre," she said.

"The Friends had a consultant come in and make recommendations," said Pollard. "We presented those recommendations to the board and they were ignored. OPSEU has asked to sit down with management and the board and been ignored. We don't want to be ignored anymore. We want the public to speak out."

Trumble offered the support of 7,000 workers in the Grey-Bruce area. 

"We want the board and the CEO to make no mistake, we support OPSEU, the health coalition and the Friends of the Kincardine Hospital," he said. "We need more respect for our health care workers and for the entire health care system. If asked, we will take a leadership role and do what has to be done to take proper care of the staff at these small and rural hospitals."

Pollard said the leaflet campaign will encourage people to become involved in hospital board meetings, and voice their opinions at all four hospital sites.

"We have to speak up for the workers who are being poorly treated," she said.

When asked if OPSEU could launch an investigation into how employees are treated at the health centre's hospital sites, McIlwraith said the union has no right to walk on the premises unless permitted by the employer.

"However, arbitration is a poor way to spend health care dollars," she said. "Given the multiple years of service for many of these workers, this is very poor labour relations."

She said with many hospital boards, there is a fiscal advisory committee at which the budget is disclosed and the union can speak up and have input. "This corporation (South Bruce Grey Health Centre) does not allow any input into its budget."

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Wednesday, June 09, 2010