KINGSTON, Ont. – Workers at the Kingston General Hospital are gearing up for the fight to keep their hospital under local control as the province moves to put it under supervision by the man who investigated the facility.
“If Graham Scott is planning on coming in here and cutting services and jobs, we’ll fight him all the way,” pledged Louis Rodrigues, President of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) 1974, which represents front-line health care workers at the hospital.
“But if Scott wants to restore local control of this hospital – including putting in place a new board chair and CEO who reflects the community’s desire to maintain services – then we will work with him,” Rodrigues said.
“This is not about getting Joe de Mora’s job back,” Rodrigues said. “This is about making sure that democracy in health care – not provincial fiat – prevails in Kingston.”
Rodrigues said that a planned judicial review of Scott’s report, which led to the province’s appointment of a supervisor, and in part to De Mora’s dismissal, would not proceed at this time.
“We thought it better to put our resources into working with the community to improve democratic governance at KGH than to pursue legal options at this time,” Rodrigues said. “For starters, we are organizing a Town Hall meeting on the whole situation at KGH and how we can get best organized, and we’re inviting all members of the public to join us.”
The planning for the Town Hall meeting has started, Rodrigues said, adding that the date and other details will be announced soon.
“We will be watching like hawks to make sure not one service and not one job gets cut in this turbulent time at KGH,” Rodrigues said. “We must make sure that the community gets served by KGH, not shafted by the province.”
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For more information, contact:
Louis Rodrigues, President, CUPE 1974: 613-531-1319 (C)
David Robbins, CUPE Communications: 613-878-1431 (C)