OTTAWA: From $5 jugs of water to high-risk security issues,
Ontario’s first public-private hospital is riddled with serious problems.
The Ontario Public Service Employees Union is charging that
staff and patients of the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre (ROMHC) were forced
into an incomplete facility for political and financial reasons.
OPSEU Local 479 details a lengthy list of shortcomings in a
report released today.
They include:
· fire exits that lead to dangerous fenced-in construction
areas
· demolition debris falling on occupied offices
· fire alarms that cannot be heard, or cannot be traced to
their source
· wireless phones that do not work in emergency situations
· diesels smells from poorly located air intakes
· lack of privacy and confidentiality
· theft from poorly secured work areas
· incorrect directional signs
Staff is also complaining the private operator is bleeding their
clinical budgets dry with superficial charges for everything from $5 jugs of
water to $15 to hang a picture. When employees complained of poor air quality
within the building, the private operator charged the hospital $500 for air
quality testing.
Originally scheduled to open in 2004 with 284 beds, the Royal
Ottawa Mental Health Centre opened in October 2006 with 188 beds. Estimated in
2004 to cost $95 million, construction has instead cost $146 million.
While the William Osler Hospital was forced to disclose details
of its deal with the government, the Royal Ottawa has kept most of the private
sector deal secret.
OPSEU is calling on the province to place a moratorium on future
P3 hospitals until an evaluation of the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre and
Brampton’s William Osler Hospital can take place.
