Diverting bodies from Niagara down the QEW for autopsies in Toronto, “makes no sense”

HAMILTON, ON – The union representing staff in pathology at Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) is calling on the provincial government to reconsider a recent decision to divert pathology cases from Niagara to Toronto, by-passing Hamilton. The move to shuttle forensic autopsies from Niagara to Toronto, is the latest in a series of controversial and questionable…

Ottawa and Ottawa Valley ParaMed staff say, “enough of low wages, exploitation”, begin workplace actions today

OTTAWA, ON – More than 200 nurses, personal support workers (PSWs) and care dispatchers employed locally by ParaMed are among Ottawa’s and the Ottawa Valley’s lowest paid health care workers. But today (Monday, February 3, 2020) these predominantly female workers, represented by the Canadian Union of Public of Employees (CUPE) begin workplace actions to increase…

NDP health critic and OHC comment on closure of North Bay hospital addiction treatment beds Monday, February 3

NORTH BAY, ON – Following a review of recently made available reports, Natalie Mehra Ontario Health Coalition (OHC) director, Nickel Belt MPP France Gélinas opposition health critic and Michael Hurley president of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU/CUPE), will hold a media conference in North Bay on Monday, February 3 (2020) at 10 a.m.…

At times of viral global outbreaks like the Coronavirus, Ontario’s overcrowded, underfunded hospitals severely disadvantaged

TORONTO, ON – Ontario’s overcrowded, understaffed and underfunded hospitals are already challenged under the strain of a growing and aging population and as a result they are “severely disadvantaged at times of viral global outbreaks, like the Coronavirus now spread to North America from China,” says Michael Hurley the president of the Ontario Council of…

North Bay hospital staff take part in on-site solidarity day to keep addictions treatment program from closing

NORTH BAY, ON – With the North Bay Regional Health Centre residential addictions program threatened with closure, tomorrow (Tuesday, January 7) hospital staff are taking the unprecedented step of holding a solidarity day to keep the beds from closing. In support of patients in treatment and the nurses and therapists who provide the services, throughout…

With new critical reports, Ontario’s Solicitor General must act to stop the closure of Hamilton forensic pathology

HAMILTON, ON – Ontario’s Solicitor General must act immediately to stop the controversial closure of the Hamilton forensic pathology unit, in light of two new critical reports – one from respected provincial auditor Bonnie Lysyk – the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) says. Since the summer of 2019 when the closure was made public,…

Why is a hospital residential addiction program being cut when North Bay had 138 drug-related overdoses since May?

NORTH BAY, ON – In the midst of an opioid crisis that continues to devastate families in northeastern Ontario, an in-hospital residential addiction and detox program – that “helps save lives”, is on the chopping block at the North Bay Regional Health Centre (NBRHC), the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) warned today. Funding cuts…