Registered Nurses Laid Off During Pandemic

ONA shocked as Runnymede Healthcare Centre Makes Cuts

TORONTO, ON, April 28, 2020 – The Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA) is expressing shock regarding the decision of management of Runnymede Healthcare Centre to lay off or accept retirement packages for seven full-time registered nurses (RNs) – including an RN infected with COVID-19 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I continue to be seriously taken aback at the dubious decisions of some employers in this province as they continue to cut their ranks of RNs,” said ONA President Vicki McKenna. RN. “Cutting RN care is bad for patients at any time, but during a global pandemic, it is particularly foolish.”

“This employer boasts on its website of having a ‘culture of excellence and innovation.’ I would suggest that cutting highly educated RNs is anything but an excellent practice,” said McKenna. “This facility provides complex continuing care and rehabilitation, and RNs help ensure the best recovery possible for these patients. Runnymede’s cuts total almost half of its full-time RN complement; it previously had just 15 RNs in total.”

ONA notes that public health has declared an outbreak at COVID-19 at Runnymede; health-care providers have also tested positive. This, says McKenna, is a clear sign that cutting RN care now is reckless.

“We need our RNs, properly protected and well, on the front lines more than ever,” she said. “We urge this employer to reverse its plans and instead, keep our nurses providing the care people need.”

ONA is the union representing more than 68,000 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 416-986-8240; shereeb@ona.org