London Health Sciences Centre is cutting 288 registered nurses across several units.
These cuts would remove approximately 563,000 hours of registered nurse care, the Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA) estimates.
According to the union, affected areas include adult ambulatory services, inpatient care units and pediatric services.
“It’s unacceptable that a hospital like LHSC, which serves thousands of acute patients, is cutting the registered nurses who provide front-line care, while their past leadership is being investigated for embezzling money,” says ONA President Erin Ariss in a release on Tuesday.
“At a time when public trust in hospital administration is already low, these new cuts make nurses question who is being prioritized: patients or budgets?”
Ariss pointed to recent provincial funding discussions, noting that LHSC is part of the Ontario Hospital Association, which lobbied for a four per cent funding increase to support hospital operations.
The union says it will continue pressing the provincial government for mandatory nurse-to-patient staffing ratios and greater accountability for understaffing.
The ONA represents 68,000 health-care professionals and 18,000 nursing student affiliates across Ontario’s health-care system.
