Canadian Union of Public Employees received notice of the elimination of 26 positions, The Nugget has learned.

CUPE was also notified the North Bay Regional Health Centre is creating 12 new positions for a net loss of 14 jobs.

Ontario Public Service Employees Union and Ontario Nurses Association also received layoff notices. The number of affected employees from those two unions isn’t known at this time.

Senior staff at North Bay Regional Health Centre met with affected staff today at 2 p.m.

The affected employees include 13 full-time positions and 13 part-time positions. Most of these positions are personal support workers and clerical staff.

“It is clear the Minister of Health Silvia Jones is not understanding the specialized funding that is required at the North Bay Regional Health Centre. Our hospital combines specialized mental health and acute health in one facility. As such, benchmarking our funding with standard health facilities does not work here. The 15 hour wait time in the emergency department proves that,” said Mike Turgeon, president CUPE Local 139, which represents health care workers.

“Minister Fedeli will tell you that his government has invested more into healthcare than any previous government, what he isn’t telling you is that the same government has also invested more money than any previous government into privatized for profit clinics,” he said.

“Until the government and the minister fund our hospital properly, we will continue to see less front line staff to care for our vulnerable population.”

The Nugget will update as details become available.

Jennifer Hamilton-McCharles joined the North Bay Nugget newsroom in 2000. Born and raised in North Bay, and a graduate of Nipissing University and Canadore College, her work has been recognized with provincial and national awards for breaking news and investigative journalism. She is an active member on several board of directors and recognizes this as one way she can contribute to her community.