Important Information about Reorganization at The Ottawa Hospital
The Ottawa Hospital recently provided notice to the Ontario Nurses Association (ONA), the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) of a reorganization it will undertake in the coming fiscal year. For the benefit of our staff, patients and community, here are the facts about this reorganization.
It is important to note that these staffing changes have been carefully planned to ensure that there is no reduction in the volume or quality of patient service. TOH patients will continue to benefit from the same standard of care.
That said, we regularly provide unions with notice of organizational restructuring. It is a well entrenched labour relations practice, and a core requirement of collective bargaining. In this case, we advised unions of staffing changes we are planning for 2010/2011.
Overall, 133 employees will be affected by the reorganization. Of these 133 employees, 79 are from CUPE, 48 are from ONA, and 6 are from OPSEU. In addition, TOH will close 42 vacant positions, i.e. positions that are not currently filled. Under the current economic circumstances, hospitals, like every other sector, must provide responsible stewardship of scarce public resources. That is why certain vacancies have been closed.
As of now, no employee has lost their job. Most, in fact, will continue working at TOH even after the reorganization. We have simply provided our unions with appropriate notice, at the beginning of the restructuring process, as required by collective bargaining.
Our collective bargaining offers strong protections for all employees affected by the reorganization. Some will be reassigned to positions for which they are qualified, elsewhere at TOH. Others will fill one of the 400 internally posted vacancies TOH has at any given time throughout the year. Some will remain in their current – or similar – jobs as a result of eligible colleagues accepting early retirement. For those who opt to leave, we will provide a severance package.
Given current job vacancies and the numerous options available to affected employees, we are in an excellent position to keep job losses to a minimal level. In the meantime, we wish to thank our staff, our unions, our patients and our community for their patience and ongoing support.
The Ottawa Hospital |
