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AJAX – Despite paying out costly severance packages, the Rouge Valley Health System is trying to hire back limited staff on a casual basis to try and keep mental health services going at the Ajax hospital.
Inpatient acute care for mental health patients is being discontinued at the hospital, unofficially scheduled for October. With little incentive to stick around, many professionals chose to walk out the door and not come back.
“This hospital never treated these workers with respect,” says Warren (Smokey) Thomas, OPSEU President. “Now their poor human resources policies are coming back to haunt them. Instead of planning a smooth transition to other jobs, they are instead playing games that are discouraging skilled professionals from staying on in any capacity at Rouge Valley.”
The concerns are amplified by a need for additional mental health staff at the Scarborough site of the RVHS.
One psychiatrist has already left, while two others have drastically reduced their hours. Four registered nurses were gone by July, while a fifth left before severance packages were offered. Two more RNs are expected to leave this week. One social worker has left and another has given notice. Several registered practical nurses and administrative staff have also left.
“Patients at both Ajax and Scarborough are being put in jeopardy because of an administration that continues to address its deficit through top-down planning, ignoring the needs of patients, their communities, and the health care professionals that serve them,” says Thomas.
Many outpatients have been left scrambling for treatment in the wake of the exodus, some showing up at Scarborough Centenary only to be told they live outside the hospital’s catchment area.
March 25 the hospital announced its plan to cut 20 mental health beds at the Ajax hospital and cancel nine more acute care mental health beds under construction. The Ontario Public Service Employees Union took the Central East Local Health Integration Network to court after it approved the plan without community consultation.
OPSEU continues to call for a suspension of the present cuts and the appointment of a supervisor to take over the hospital.
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