“And the sad truth is this hospital has a deficit of $12 million,” said Michael Hurley, president of OCHU-CUPE, in his remarks at the rally. “Like many hospitals in this province as a result, it’s cutting staff at the same time that the population of Guelph is aging and growing and the demand here is so significant that in two-thirds of cases this hospital can not meet provincial targets to admit patients on time from its ER. That’s the reality.”

Brodie-Campbell has worked at GGH since 1991 and she can’t remember a lay-off this big before.

Behind every nurse is a PSW, said Tammy McGlone, PSW at GGH, who isn’t getting laid off since she has seniority. “Bare bones to it all is the nurses don’t have time to do what we do,” said Brandy Wilson, PSW at GGH, who is set to be laid off.

The impacts are two-fold with the first being patient care with things propping up like bed sores, malnourishment, muscle deterioration if patients aren’t up and moving around. The other is nursing staff won’t stay in the profession because “there is no job satisfaction with this type of work environment,” said Zinger.