It appears the Ontario Nurses Association and senior officials with the Southeast Public Health, are not on the same page when it comes to what is happening on March 1 at several locations.
The Ontario Nurses Association shared a media release indicating that health unit offices in Trenton, Napanee, Almonte, Gananoque, Kemptville, and Perth would soon become “unstaffed.”
“This raises urgent questions about whether much-needed client services will no longer be available within these locations. Our clients deserve clear answers,” notes Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA) Provincial President Erin Ariss.
“If services are discontinued at these offices, residents may be forced to travel much farther to receive the support they need from Southeast Public Health.”
Quinte News spoke spoke with ONA Vice-President Rachel Muir, who indicated the nurse practitioner was being laid off as well.
“The communication we’ve got has been inconsistent. It’s not clear. Staff, residents, don’t know exactly what’s going on and what sort of services are going to be available to them as of March 1st.”
“In November, staff were advised they were being reassigned as of March 1st, then they got a temporary respite, saying that wasn’t going to happen but we really don’t know what is going to happen. The last communication we really received was at the beginning of February.”
Southeast Health Medical Officer of Health Doctor Piotr Oglaza.
“The staff will be coming to offer the same types of clinics as before. We’ll also have the reception access at those clinics to serve the public. What’s really important here, at the bottom of this, it’s important that there’s no reduction in services.”
He did confirm, however, that some staff would be working out of different locations.
“The relocation of staff that will be effective March 1st, supports the implementation of our Rural Services Delivery Strategy. We’re not reducing services. The goal is to ensure that more robust, consistent, and comprehensive set of services are delivered across the southeast region.”
