THUNDER BAY – The closure of the Lakehead Psychiatric Hospital will eliminate more than 90 employees and reduce access to services and programs, warns the union president representing workers expected to be affected.
Ontario Public Service Employees Union Local 720 president Ed Arvelin said St. Joseph's Care Group's transferring of psychiatric services to a new wing of St. Joseph's Hospital will cut 25 full-time and regular part-time positions as well as ending 68 temporary contracts, following a meeting between union officials and St. Joseph’s Care Group personnel on Wednesday.
“Any cut, as small as it is, is still a cut to services,” Arvelin said.
“When there are wait lists for programs, that means people are going to wait longer for intake, they’re going to wait longer for services, they’re going to wait longer for day programs. Until they actually get into those programs, they’re affected.”
Arvelin identified senior psychiatric outpatient programs as an area that will be specifically affected.
A document sent to OPSEU by St. Joseph’s Care Group last month outlines the targets of the layoffs, which would include seven registered nurses, two social workers and one occupational therapist. Other positions such as steam plant engineers, cleaners, cook and switchboard.
Arvelin said the Lakehead Psychiatric Hospital used to be a mental health hub and the transferring of the 38 beds to the St. Joseph’s Hospital further fragments the system.
“People are dying. People are ending up in (the emergency room). People are ending up in jails,” Arvelin said. “They’re not receiving the services they should be in standalone facilities that deal specifically with mental health and addictions issues.”
Earlier this week Tracy Buckler, president and CEO of St. Joseph's Care Group, said it is not new that the 25 positions would be reduced as part of moving services out of the Lakehead Psychiatric Hospital.
"There’s been a whole lot of restructuring and moving around of programs and positions to the community particularly, and this is the final piece of the move in the whole mental health care restructuring," Buckler said. "This has been an exceptionally long process to get to this point. There should be no surprise that there will be some reduction in positions as a result of efficiencies."
