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Funding freeze no surprise to hospital — they planned for it

In its 2015-2016 budget, which was released in March, Health Sciences North cut $5.2 million in spending to balance its books.
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Health Sciences North has operated under the assumption it would not receive a funding increase in the latest provincial budget, said hospital spokesperson Dan Lessard. File photo.
In its 2015-2016 budget, which was released in March, Health Sciences North cut $5.2 million in spending to balance its books.

Turns out, hospital administration was being proactive, preparing, HSN said today, not to receive any new funding for 2015-2016. Turns out, that was the right thing to do.

Hospitals are required by law to deliver balanced budgets.

Health Sciences North submitted a budget of $427.4 million for the fiscal year.To achieve a balanced budget, the hospital cut just over 35 full-time equivalent non-management positions, or about one per cent of unionized positions at the hospital.

Health Science North also cut 6.4 full-time equivalent management positions, or around three per cent of total management employees.

But the hospital said the cuts would be achieved by not filling existing vacancies, through attrition, and reductions in scheduled hours.

Nearly 26 full-time equivalent position reductions were Ontario Nurses' Association members; just over three were staff with the Canadian Union of Public Employees; 4.5 full-time equivalents were with the Ontario Public Services Employees Union; and two were non-union and non-management.

Health Sciences North spokesperson Dan Lessard said the hospital has operated under the assumption it would not receive more funding in the provincial budget.

“We’re working on the assumption that funding will remain relatively static and we’ll operate accordingly,” he said in an email to NorthernLife.ca.

With continued hospital funding freezes in the latest provincial budget, the Ontario Nurses' Association has taken a hardline stance against the cuts, warning in a news release today more cuts to registered nursing positions will leave patients in Ontario “at an increased risk of complications and even death.”

In the latest fiscal year, the Ontario Nurses' Association said more than 400 nursing positions were cut across the province, with a loss of close to 800,000 hours of care.

“As registered nurses, we know that our patients are needlessly suffering because hospitals must balance their budgets without the necessary funding,” said Ontario Nurses' Association president Linda Haslam-Stroud, in a press release. “Funding community care is needed; however, we still have very ill patients in hospitals that require RN care.”

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Jonathan Migneault

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