WINNIPEG – Some emergency care doctors have received letters saying their jobs will no longer exist.
The changes are part of the major shake-up happening at the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA).
“Physicians at various community hospitals are being provided notice that, because of the changes being made to the emergency department/urgent care centre in which they provide services, their position will no longer exist at that facility,” read the letter.
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It also asks doctors affected by the health region’s restructuring to indicate if they’re interested in pursuing another job in the system.
“You are invited to take part in the process described below with a view to being considered for a different position consistent with your qualifications and experience. It is anticipated there will be various positions,” the letter continued.
The WRHA is focusing first on doctors at Misercordia Health Centre and Victoria Hospital, since those facilities will be part of the first wave of changes in October.
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At that time, the Misercordia urgent care will close and the Victoria Hospital emergency department will turn into an urgent care centre.
However, the WRHA said the number of hours for which doctors will provide service won’t change.
“That physician time that we buy at those two sites will still be in the system, we’re going to shift those hours largely to Health Sciences Centre and St Boniface Hospital and some to the grace. So we’re not losing any total emergency physician hours,” said Dr. Brock Wright, vice-president and chief medical officer with the WRHA.
The health authority will do its best to place doctors in new positions that are mutually beneficial, continued Wright.
“We’ll accommodate those individuals we can and for those that can’t be accommodated but want to continue working we will work with them to find other physician opportunities in the system,” he said.
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