St. Boniface Hospital cardiac unit restructuring could lead to nurse layoffs

A restructuring of the cardiac care unit at St. Boniface Hospital in Winnipeg could result in up to 12 nurses being laid off.

The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA) confirms that the hospital's cardiac unit has to be restructured, creating two separate patient care units as a result, to meet accreditation requirements from the Royal College's residency program.

The new units, a cardiology medicine and post-recovery unit and an acute cardiac care unit, will begin accepting patients in mid-to-late June, according to the health authority.

Fifty-one nurses in the existing cardiac unit received "deletion notices" on Tuesday. The notices had to be issued so that new positions in the new units could be posted, a WRHA spokesperson told CBC News.

The cardiology medicine and post-recovery unit will have 39 positions, which nurses with deletion notices can apply for, according to a WRHA staff memo dated April 29.

The acute cardiac care unit will have 22 positions, but current staff "are not eligible to apply for these positions as they do not meet the training requirements," the memo states in part.

The Manitoba Nurses Union said it has known about the changes coming at St. Boniface for some time. The deletion notices follow protocol set out in the collective agreement.

"This is a process that we've been through before, and it can be stressful — to be displaced from your job and all those things," MNU president Sandi Mowat said Wednesday.

"The other thing I've been told by the nurses is that it's a big chaotic because the construction of the new cardiac unit is behind and they don't really know the date this is all going to take place. That's a bit of what's contributing to the stress of this."

Mowat said she's worried where the WHRA will find 22 nurses trained in intensive care. She said there's a shortage of IC nurses across Winnipeg right now with a vacancy rate of 20 per cent.

The WRHA says the Acute Cardiac Care Unit will be staffed with nurses who have completed the Winnipeg Critical Care Nursing Education Program, which is a requirement for all nurses working in critical care units in the WRHA.

St. Boniface has recruited staff with this qualification and a number of these staff will graduate from the education program in June 2016. The plan is to gradually increase the number of beds and the acuity level of the patient care as these positions are filled by nurses with this additional training, according to the WRHA.

All of the existing nurses had the opportunity to apply for the education program in the past year, the health authority said.

Other options for the affected nurses include bumping into another nursing position, applying for other jobs within the hospital, or going on layoff.

"Although there is no guarantee of getting a position in cardiology, there are available positions for everyone who wants to continue working at St. Boniface Hospital," says the memo.