Ontario Nurses’ Association concerned about impact of the closure of Canadian Blood Services’ donor clinic in Sudbury

TORONTO, August 8, 2019 – The Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA) is expressing its support of Canadian Blood Services’ (CBS) announcement regarding the opening of a new plasma collection clinic in Sudbury.  However, ONA is concerned about the impact on the dedicated registered nurses who currently work with the blood-collection clinics in Sudbury and the surrounding area.

In addition, CBS has many blood donors who will lose their access to donate unless they are able to travel to the new clinic in Sudbury.

“ONA and CBS are on the same page regarding our commitment to the volunteer-based collection of whole blood and blood plasma, as opposed to paid donations,” says ONA President Vicki McKenna, RN. “While we support the goal of increasing Canada’s plasma collection, we are deeply concerned about the impact on the highly skilled and knowledgeable RNs who are being informed that they will lose their jobs.”

CBS announced today that it will close its Sudbury donor clinic and the mobile clinics. This will result in seven part-time RN positions being cut. While CBS says it will require six RNs to work in its new plasma collection site, there will be a several months-long gap in employment for the nurses.

ONA anticipates the RNs who are affected by this move may seek employment elsewhere during the time lag between the loss of their blood collection positions and the start of training and employment at the plasma collection centre. “We will continue to discuss with CBS officials to see how our RNs – and the supply of a safe and reliable blood supply – can be ensured,” says McKenna.

ONA is the union representing more than 65,000 registered nurses and health-care professionals, as well as 18,000 nursing student affiliates, providing care in hospitals, long-term care facilities, public health, the community, clinics and industry.

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For more information:

Sheree Bond (416) 964-8833, ext. 2430; cell: (416) 986-8240; shereeb@ona.org

Melanie Levenson (416) 964-8833, ext. 2369; melaniel@ona.org