Staff cuts at the North Bay Regional Health Centre (NBRHC) in Northern Ontario will affect every facet of care provision, contrary to claims of “no service impact” by the hospital CEO and Ontario Conservative MPP Vic Fideli, said the Canadian Union of Public Employees at a press conference held today in North Bay.

The hospital has announced 40 layoffs including nurses, PSWs, clerical staff, a pharmacy technician and a patient food service worker.

“The truth is that staff are currently under intense pressure due to high patient volumes and we desperately need more nurses, PSWs, clerks and other workers, not less,” said Mike Turgeon, president of CUPE 139. “I recently had a nurse tell me she fears making mistakes every day, which put her patients and her licence at risk. The anxiety this causes has her hiding in the staff washroom crying on her breaks. For the hospital and politicians to pretend like everything is fine is just an attempt to conceal the true impact of the cuts.”

Staffing shortages at the hospital are undermining quality of care and delaying access to care, according to the union.

Based on latest data from August 2025, ER patients at NBRHC wait 17.3 hours on average for hospital admission, more than twice the length of the eight hour provincial target. Only 41% of patients are admitted on time.

“The first person you see in the ER is a nurse, and then a clerk. How will cutting those positions help improve care? How can a hospital that has a 59% failure rate in timely admissions afford more cuts? It begs the question: has the government given up on meeting its own standards?” Turgeon said.

Michael Hurley, president of CUPE’s hospital division (Ontario Council of Hospital Unions), blamed the provincial government for real dollar cuts that will cover less than half of the hospital’s cost increases.

He pointed to the recent analysis by the Financial Accountability Office showing a $19.4 billion shortfall in health care over the next three years and the closure of 2,500 beds province-wide.

“North Bay has an ageing, growing population that desperately needs these services. This government’s funding plan will doom more patients to hallway healthcare, longer waits for surgery, reduced quality of care and it will drive staff to leave in despair,” Hurley said.

CUPE estimates that North Bay requires about 120 additional hospital staff every year to keep pace with demand.

“Hospital funding has not been keeping pace with growing demand,” he said. “It’s taken a tremendous toll on the workforce, who are deeply demoralized because of their inability to deliver care to patients to the standard they have been trained to provide but can’t.”

The union says it will launch a campaign to save jobs and protect services.

“We have every confidence that the people of North Bay will help us to defend their hospital,” said Turgeon. “We have resources from CUPE, and we will use those resources to reach and mobilize the community to defend our services.”

CUPE 139 represents about 1,000 employees at the five NBRHC sites.