as the financial crisis deepens in the us, canada is also feeling the pain. it was thought that we'd feel less impact because of differences in our methods and systems, but the truth is that we aren't immune to it at all. there were more than 129,000 jobs lost in canada in january alone. most of them were in the manufacturing sector, but not all.
hamilton-layoff notices go out next week to 250 staff as hamilton health sciences cuts $21 million from its budget.
the hospital has already axed 49 corporate jobs to save $4 million. it also plans to save cash by having fewer nurses per patient and less-skilled workers providing care.
st. joseph's healthcare, which has predicted 175 job cuts, will tell its staff feb. 2 its plans to reduce a $12 million deficit.
hospital unions projecting 5,000 job losses, serious cutbacks to patient care if mcguinty fails to address hospital underfunding
monday, january 12, 2009
toronto, jan. 12 /cnw/ - in a joint press conference this morning, leadership from four major hospital unions representing more than 80,000 hospital staff warned of large scale job losses and downsizing in ontario's hospitals. in a briefing note, the unions warned that underfunding at currently planned levels translates into a cutback of 5,000 full time jobs and more than 9 million hours of patient care. serious hospital cutbacks are threatened at hospitals of every size (small, medium and large) in every region of ontario.
"hospital downsizing is already resulting in longer waits for patients, user fees for patients, and loss of services," noted patty rout, vice president and treasurer of opseu.
most of the nursing job losses have been in ontario, but that doesn't mean the rest of the country will be safe.
alberta health care to suffer as government tightens its belt
appointments raise concerns of privatization
jason fekete, calgary herald
published: friday, november 21, 2008
provincial health minister ron liepert warned albertans on thursday to gird for difficult decisions ahead on health care as the government grapples with what's likely to be reduced revenues next year and some tough-love budgeting.(...)
the board will also closely examine all health-care supplier contracts to ensure the province is getting value for money, he added, while staffing requirements will "continue to change" as the system evolves.
"there's going to have to be tighter belts," hughes said. "we are going to change the way we deliver health care in alberta."
it is entirely possible that the recruitment of iens will drop off sharply as the canadian employment picture worsens. while canada is not currently considering a moratorium on hiring nurses from abroad, it may reach that point. please be aware and prepared for it should it come to that. also consider the position of your spouse or other supporting person who will be job-seeking in canada who may now have severely limited possibilities. take nothing for granted. if you want it badly enough, you'll have to be willing to fight.
Well that basically tells me that there's no point in even starting the process. I'll check back in a few months and see if anything has changed. Thanks Jan.
Specializes in NICU, PICU, PCVICU and peds oncology.
Patient care compromised as nurses cut by hospitals trying to balance books: NDPKeith Leslie, THE CANADIAN PRESS Apr 26, 2010 19:36:22 PM
TORONTO - Ontario patients will get poorer health care in the wake of 2,000 registered nurses being laid off in the past year as hospitals struggle to balance budgets, the New Democrats said Monday.
"Nurses are being thanked with pink slips in this province," NDP Leader Andrea Horwath told the legislature.
"Patients and their families are seeing their local cancer screening programs disappear; they're seeing less support for the elderly, less support for people with mental health issues.
"How can the minister still claim that these cuts aren't impacting front-line care with statistics like that?"
A helpful member posted a news item from Prince Edward Island regarding short-term closures of an urgent care centre due to nurse shortages and suggested that new grads looking for work think about going there. But having a staffing problem and hiring new staff to help with that are not the same thing. There are only 6 permanent nursing positions (RN and LPN) posted in PEI as of today, and only one of those is full time. The remainder of the postings are for temporary and casual positions, and most of them are part time with less than 60% FTE.
Another member posted that he'd been let go from a 14+ year job in Ontario and has been out of work for a couple of months already.
Alberta's RNs are in negotations with the province and the parties have been offered a mediated settlement that will be voted on by UNA June 30, 2010. A letter of understanding stating that the province will agree to hire a minimum of 70% of new LOCAL grads in each of the subsequent three years or explain why they haven't is included in the mediator's package. As of the moment, the employer has not yet signed off on any of it and there are 66 positions currently open to external (non-AHS) applicants. The problem with that is that 34 of them are casual and only 19 are permanent - while 13 of those are full time, they are all in either small, remote communities or they're for specialty areas. Considering that Alberta nursing schools graduated about 700 students so far this year, that's not a good ratio.
Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
Just want to add on about Prince Edward Island, although it is a lovely Island it costs approx $43 to leave the Island when in a car and you will need a car to get around. It is approx 30 mins from Nova Scotia and 20 mins from New Brunswick. Winters can be cold and remote and if very strong winds the ferry and bridge closes so you can't get off or on the Island and this will happen a couple times a year
picugal75
21 Posts
Well that basically tells me that there's no point in even starting the process. I'll check back in a few months and see if anything has changed. Thanks Jan.