Skip to content

Letter: ONA scrutinizes nursing vacancies at NBRHC

'..there are solutions. All that is needed is for hospital leadership to honestly own up to the serious issues in this workplace and work to implement solutions. Our patients deserve the best — and so do those who care for them'
2020 08 15 North Bay Regional Health Centre NBRHC (Gage Campaigne)(1)
North Bay Regional Health Centre.

To the editor:

I am writing regarding the under-reporting of hospital vacancies at North Bay Regional Health Centre. 

See: NBRHC acknowledges staffing strain as positions go unfilled, Sept. 23

As the Regional Vice-President of the Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA), I would like to draw attention to the vacancy numbers quoted to BayToday by NBRHC of 164 vacancies, with half of those either RNs or RPNs. 

Editor's note: NBRHC used the updated September figures in responding to our request for the Sept. 23 article. Due to a lag in reporting to the union, ONA cited the August figures in this response.

In fact, according to the official vacancy report from just one month before, there were more than 90 RN vacancies alone. For 2022 alone, there have already been more than 255 job vacancies posted for RNs. 

As an RN myself, I must point out that job vacancies in these outrageous ranges negatively impact the patients seeking high-quality, safe care. ONA has continued to meet with hospital leaders in repeated attempts to address staffing challenges and has been met with resistance to putting in place measures other northern hospitals are using to attract/retain nurses.

In the face of an unprecedented nursing shortage, the impact of a deadly pandemic, and an alarming rise in healthcare workplace violence, I would like residents of the community to know that there are solutions. All that is needed is for hospital leadership to honestly own up to the serious issues in this workplace and work to implement solutions.

Our patients deserve the best — and so do those who care for them.

Dawn Armstrong, RN

Vice-President, ONA Region 1