April 24, 2003 OPSEU members dealing with SARS: A letter to the Toronto Mirror-Guardian newspapers from Pat Collyer, President, Local 575, Scarborough Hospital.
To: The Editor of the Mirror/Guardian
From: Pat Collyer OPSEU Local 575
I have been following your coverage of SARS with interest but feel that the public needs to be made aware of the following information.
The weekend that Centenary Hospital was closed due to SARS the only hospital to remain open in Scarborough for the 12 hours for admissions of Emergency patients was The Scarborough Hospital , General Division. In order to deal with the impact of this staff were contacted at home and willingly came in to deal with the increase in patients
who came to the General.
Due to the precautions necessary and screening processes necessary with the SARS outbreak the hospital has had to increase the number of OPSEU Local 575 members such as Respiratory Therapists and Diagnostic Imaging technologists to deal with significant increased workloads on evening shifts.
During this period the ice storms added additional stress for health care professionals as the number of orthopedic cases rose dramatically.
The 2 site restrictions have played havoc with scheduling, as shifts that were covered by members who work at other facilities had to be reassigned. Members have taken this in their stride and often had to rearrange their personal lives as schedules are released at most a week at a time at this time and confirmation comes late the week
before. Given that directives received by the hospital from many exterior bodies Public Health , Ministry of Labour and MOHLTC as to when they can increase outpatient bookings or regarding changes of SARS status come then.
Throughout this as the president of OPSEU Local 575 along with other union presidents at The Scarborough Hospital we have participated in daily conference calls with hospital management.
The Joint Health and Safety Committee has implemented weekly emergency meetings which include all Union presidents.
Health care workers have been asked to limit our social contacts, in particular amongst ourselves. When taking our breaks we must not sit together but must maintain at least 1 meter distance apart from one another in the cafeteria. With this holiday weekend upon us many of us will spend it in isolation from our family celebrations and
gatherings.
I would also point out at this time the conspicuous lack of support from the Ontario government regarding financial aid for hospitals to cover the additional costs of SARS.
I am disappointed to say the least with the lack of comment from local politicians on these issues.The most conspicuous being Dan Newman. March 31 I sent a letter to Dan which I have yet to receive a response to. This can be viewed on the OPSEU website: http://www.opseu.org
As for the future, once directives are provided from MOHLTC for hospitals to start gearing up many health care professionals will be required to work additional shifts to deal with the backlog of patients who have had appointments cancelled for diagnostic testing and elective surgery. For some this may mean a cancellation of vacation. In
the event this occurs, the staffing shortages already experienced will continue for many months as staff will have to take vacation later in the year rather than in the prime time when traditionally hospital workloads decrease somewhat because the public is also taking vacation.
The shortages of X-ray,Nuclear Medicine, Laboratory, EEG and MRI technologists as well as technicians in these professions is well documented. OPSEU Local 575 represents these professionals and our membership have been experiencing the shortages daily for several years.
Our local has seen some of it's Grace members hospitalized with SARS. Those members at the Grace who have continued to provide patient care will have to be quarantined once the MOHLTC and Public Health agree that the hospital's status is no longer a Level 3. Meanwhile, some of the members from the Grace who have completed their 10 day
quarantine are now being reassigned to the General. These members are now experiencing the added stress of adjusting to a temporary work assignment in another facility where they have never worked before.
Sincerely,
Pat Collyer
OPSEU Local 575
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