Health authority expects to dole out $5.3M in severance pay to laid off managers

The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority expectsto pay out $5.36million in severance packages to laid-off managers whose jobs were eliminated this week to comply with a government order, the agency says.

On Tuesday 132 positions including some that were vacant were cut at the largest health authority in Manitoba. The cut will save the WRHA about $10 million a year, a spokesperson said.

• Seven Oaks Hospital manager shocked as 32-year career ends with firing after government cut
• At least 197 management positions cut at Manitoba health authorities, agencies

At least 197 positions management positions were cut across Manitoba health authorities and at agencies including CancerCare and Diagnostic Services Manitobathis week.

Interim NDP Leader Flor Marcelino denounced the cuts, especially as government makes massive changes to emergency care at Winnipeg hospitals.

The province plansto close three emergency rooms in the city:

• Seven Oaks General Hospital.
• Victoria General Hospital.
• Concordia Hospital.

Misericordia Health Centre's urgent care centre will be converted into an intravenous therapy clinic.

"At a time when the government has caused so much disruption and confusion in the system by shutting down emergency rooms, the WRHA has confirmed that it is also firing people who support patient care," Marcelino said in a written statement.

"The government is firing the very people who are supposed to manage the massive disruptionPallisterhimself has caused."

According to the opposition party, layoffs this week included a manager of geriatric mental health, a manager of patient safety and a patient flow manager.

Carolyne Buck, who was laid off from her job as manager of the Kildonan Medical Centre at Seven Oaks Hospital Tuesday, described herself as a lower manager and made about $60,000 a year.

She wonders how remaining managers at the hospital will cope with both additional responsibilities from departing workers like herself and the changes underway in emergency rooms.

$1M yearly savings forSouthernHealth region

The Northern Health Region is expected to pay about $23,000 in severance, an email from a spokesperson said. The cut is expected to produce annual savings of about $620,000.

About $825,000 will be paid out in severance for 19 positions cut in the Southern Health-Sant Sud region, a spokesperson said in an email to CBC News. The cuts are expected to save about $1.1 million annually.

A spokesperson for Interlake-Eastern RHA said it was not in a position to release information about severance payouts due to layoffs.

The Progressive Conservatives did not provide comment, citing a communications blackout prescribed by Elections Manitoba during the Point Douglas byelection period.

• Half of Winnipeg's ERs closing in biggest health-care revamp 'in a generation'
• Savings breakdown for WRHA revealed, staffing efficiencies and hospital overhaul to save over $55M

Full coverage of health cuts in Manitoba