Health Sciences North not commenting on potential layoffs, but MPP says they seem inevitable

As rumours continue to circulate about job cuts at the hospital in Sudbury, Health Sciences North is not commenting.

When asked if the hospital could confirm or deny the possibility of job reductions, an HSN spokesperson stated, "We expect our budget to be approved by the Board of Directors in mid-April, at which time we will be in a position to comment further."

Nickel Belt MPP France Gelinas, who is also the New Democratic Partyhealth critic, says she hasn't been able to confirm new layoffs at HSN, despite numerous conversations with union representatives and workers.

She says she's disappointed that workers have been left in the dark.

"When people reach out to me, they also hear all sorts of rumours," she said.

"So far, nothing has been communicated to the unions, and nothing has been communicated that I know of to people who are not unionized."

'People are nervous'

Glinas says staff in various departments are worried the hospital and CEO Dominic Giroux plan on reducing the$10 million deficit largely through employee reductions.

"Everybody can do the math and that's a ton of people if it wereto be done through staff attrition and layoffs, so people are nervous," Gelinas said.

"We also know that so far nothing has been communicated to the unions, and nothing has been communicated that I know of to people who are not unionized."

In January, Health Sciences North cut five senior management positions whose salaries totalled about $800,000.

The exact date for the mid-April board meeting has yet to be set, according to the hospital.

Gelinas says other hospitals in Ontario are facing budget challenges like Health Sciences North.

"The hospital, like every hospital in Ontario has seen six years of either flat budget, that is the revenues have stayed at zero or for the last two years, the budget increases have been lower than the cost of living," she said.

"If the revenues are not going up, then the expenses have to come down."