The Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA) is sounding the alarm about "looming cuts to front-line staffing" at Algoma Public Health.
In a news release issued today, the ONA says the local board of health will be recommending a "workforce reduction" to save money in the face of a projected $1.5-million budget shortfall for next year.
The prospect of job cuts "should send a chill down the spine of every resident of the District of Algoma," ONA provincial president Erin Ariss said in the release. "We all need the expert care and services of our public health nurses and health-care professionals now more than ever. The employer has yet to make it clear which workers will be cut, but the bottom line is that any cuts to the front lines will be paid for with peoples’ health.”
The union also called on the board of health to protect the delivery of invaluable and longstanding public health programs and services in their communities.
“Our nurses are exhausted after years of responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now facing massive backlogs in immunizations and infectious diseases programs, staffing must not be cut — that would do nothing but put communities at risk,” Ariss said. “If cuts are needed, it’s past time to reduce the large number of new management positions rather than reduce front-line worker levels to lower than before the pandemic. Protecting the jobs of those on the front lines of public health means protecting the local delivery of health-care services to communities.”