Workers protest job cuts at Ottawa’s Perley Health

Workers at Ottawa’s Perley Health long-term care home held a demonstration outside the Russell Road facility on Wednesday to protest dozens of planned layoffs.

The long-term care home, formerly known as The Perley and Rideau Veterans’ Health Centre, has notified the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) that its planned “staffing adjustments” include 39 unionized and 13 non-unionized positions, representing about six per cent of its workforce.

“The core nursing and personal care model at Perley Health remains unchanged, and we continue to meet all provincial requirements for staffing and quality of care,” Perley Health’s director of communications Jay Innes told CBC in an email Tuesday.

Innes said all affected employees have been notified.

“The unionized roles being eliminated are part of a float and replacement pool and are being managed through a structured redeployment process in collaboration with CUPE. Our shared goal is to minimize job loss as much as possible,” he wrote.

The union says the cuts will affect personal support workers (PSWs), as well as housekeeping and kitchen staff.

Some of those demonstrating outside Perley Health on Wednesday said they’re concerned the layoffs could lower the standard of care for residents of the 450-bed facility.

Patty Lowe, a personal support worker (PSW) at Perley and head of the union’s local branch, said many of the residents need support with everything from feeding to getting in and out of bed.

“We’re dealing with human beings,” she said. “It’s a huge factor … and having the additional residents for a PSW, it’s not good, it’s just not good.”

Amanda Jiron, another PSW at Perley Health, agreed.

“It’s heartbreaking. It’s something that shouldn’t be happening. They’re human beings and care is a basic human right — it should not be rushed,” she said. “It’s already challenging as it is.”

The facility said there’s been no change to its funding, other than the loss of the additional money it received during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As of October, more than 1,200 people were on a wait-list to move into the facility.

In a statement, the Ontario government said it is making “record investments” in health care including long-term care, but said staffing is up to individual operators to manage.