The union representing Ontario nurses says cuts at a London retirement community will hurt patients.
The Ontario Nursing Association says 150 hours of registered-nurse care per week are being cut from the Southbridge Chelsey Park Retirement Community. This is the equivalent of four full-time nursing positions.
ONA bargaining unit president Dianne Popp says all these cuts are doing is harming patient care in the long run.
"In my 29 years at this home, I have never seen cuts this deep in nursing," says Popp in a release. "Residents should not suffer due to the financial issues of the home. The costs to families for long-term care have increased while nursing and personal care have decreased. You simply can't eliminate RN positions and not expect quality to suffer."
The home is blaming the cuts on a reduction in government funding.
The union's president says the safety of both nurses and patients is called into question by these cuts.
"The decision to eliminate positions and to lay off staff who provide nursing care to residents will have a devastating effect on the health-care services that these residents need and deserve," says Linda Halsam-Stroud in a statement. "It is the worst news possible for both our vulnerable residents and the remaining health-care professionals, who will experience increase to their workloads."
The ONA represents 65,000 registered nurses, nurse practitioners and health care professionals across the province.