Further reductions would impact our ability to provide the level of care our patients and communities deserve, according to hospital spokeswoman<\/p>\n
Published Oct 27, 2025 \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 Last updated 4\u00a0hours ago \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 5 minute read<\/p>\n
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Mike Turgeon, president of Local 139 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees and Mike Hurley, president of CUPE\u2019s Ontario Council of Hospital Unions held a press conference to address the 40 hospital layoffs. Photo by Jennifer Hamilton-McCharles, The NuggetArticle content<\/p>\n
The elimination of 40 jobs at the North Bay Regional Health Centre is just the beginning, according to the union representing more than 1,000 hospital workers.<\/p>\n
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Mike Turgeon, president of Local 139 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), warned that patients should expect to wait longer in the health centre\u2019s emergency room, an increase in readmission rates, and medical errors because of a reduction of front-line staff.<\/p>\n
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He said the health centre is claiming they require $5.6 million in savings due to increased overtime and sick leave.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t see how eliminating 40 front-line positions will alleviate overtime and will not increase sick time. Staff are burnt out, they\u2019re at their limit, and there\u2019s been a retention issue in this country since the end of COVID,\u201d Turgeon said during a Monday press conference at the CUPE McIntyre Street office.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd this is how they\u2019re thanking our members who kept the hospitals open, the lights on, and brought the care to the patients.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The Nugget asked the North Bay Regional Health Centre whether there will be more cuts if the hospital doesn\u2019t find enough savings?<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t want to speculate, because the board and our senior leadership team feel that further reductions would impact our ability to provide the level of care our patients and communities deserve,\u201d stated hospital spokeswoman Kim McElroy in an email to The Nugget.<\/p>\n
The Nugget asked Turgeon where the savings should come from, and he pointed to the health centre\u2019s 45 senior managers, an additional vice president, and three more directors.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose positions might be a good starting point,\u201d said Turgeon.<\/p>\n
Exactly what unionized positions are being eliminated remains unknown because CUPE\u00a0has not been able to meet with the affected employees yet. But hospital spokesperson Kim McElroy did confirm that several non-union positions have been eliminated.<\/p>\n
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\u201cFive non-union positions and eight physician leadership roles (no change in physician numbers) have been eliminated,\u201d she said in an email to The Nugget.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs part of our annual budgeting process each department in our health centre is compared against similar departments in our peer hospitals across the province. These comparisons look at the number of full-time employees (FTEs) supporting the functional centre, scope of service\/care and operational budget,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The process to identify where to jobs, said McElroy, was carried out as part of the hospital\u2019s annual budgeting exercise.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs part of our annual budgeting process each department in our health centre is compared against similar departments in our peer hospitals across the province. These comparisons look at the number of full-time employees (FTEs) supporting the functional centre, scope of service\/care and operational budget,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
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The job cuts will be partially offset by 14 new positions. Actual layoffs will also be minimized by encouraging staff to accept offers of an early exit, retirement, or redeployment.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have done everything in our power to meet our financial target and find savings equal to two per cent of our budget,\u201d said Paul Heinrich, CEO at the North Bay Regional Health Centre.<\/p>\n
\u201cHospitals face a number of complex challenges, including operational pressures, financial constraints, and an increased demand for services. Our priority is always to protect and maintain access to health care.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Turgeon isn\u2019t buying that. Neither is Mike Hurley, president of CUPE\u2019s Ontario Council of Hospital Unions.<\/p>\n
\u201cNorth Bay residents deserve better, and the city\u2019s health care workers deserve a lot better,\u201d Turgeon told local media.<\/p>\n
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What adds salt to the wound, he said, is that the hospital didn\u2019t give any warning of impending staff cuts during a recent meeting between the union and management.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a (Fiscal Advisory Committee Meeting) meeting six weeks ago, where the employer is required to disclose to the union if there are going to be any cuts? And if there are, they are to work with us from the beginning stages to minimize the number of cuts,\u201d Turgeon said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe union asked those questions, but was never told this would happen. We don\u2019t have enough bodies on the floor to take care of everyone, patients are left agitated and potentially could see an increase in violence on staff,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
McElroy stated she can\u2019t provide specific details of that meeting, however \u201cI can tell you that budgetary challenges were discussed at the FAC meeting with the unions.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Turgeon added that nurses at the North Bay health centre are \u201ccaring for 10 to 12 patients at a time,\u201d and that understaffing means that it is \u201cnot possible to provide good care.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNurses are so afraid to make a mistake, they\u2019re crying in the bathroom on their breaks,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are not getting the care they need due to understaffing caused by funding cuts. On weekends, they\u2019re so short they can\u2019t get them bathed. It\u2019s not acceptable,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The union is vowing to do whatever it takes \u201cto protect jobs and defend our public hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s clear that neither this government nor this employer has a plan for the people of North Bay who need hospital care. We are not going to take this lying down. CUPE is going to fight back. There will be a town-hall meeting, rallies, events, and we will not be letting this issue go.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Hurley said these cuts are adding to a worsening health care crisis.<\/p>\n
He said the North Bay hospital is situated in a community where thousands of people do not have access to a family doctor, more than 2,000 people across the province are lying in stretchers waiting for a hospital room, and a reduction of hospital beds from 50,000 to 35,000 compared to 25 years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to pursue this, because we\u2019re afraid this 40 (jobs) will be another 60 and then another 100. And there will be downsizing of beds, and this hospital will be a shell of what it used to be,\u201d Hurley added.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom our calculation based on Canadian Health Care information data, this hospital needs another 120 staff this year and 90 beds just to meet capacity problems,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cDownsizing staff is a huge setback. We will not accept it, and we\u2019re confident the community will not either.\u201d<\/p>\n
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