CALGARY- 13 nurses have received layoff notices at Calgary’s Rockyview General Hospital, as Alberta Health Services prepares to close a unit originally designed to ease pressure on emergency rooms.
The 12 bed Medical Assessment Unit was opened as a pilot project in 2010. At the time, it was touted as a way to reduce emergency department wait times by taking assessed patients from the ER to a transitional unit. However, hospital officials admit the concept was not helping in the way once hoped.
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“We were finding that our medical assessment unit was having patients probably stay longer than needed, and it became another in patient unit,” explains Nancy Guebert, vice-resident of the Rockyview General Hospital.
The 12 beds will be reclassified for acute care and combined with another small unit.
“Staff will be impacted, because we’re not running two small 12 bed units, we’re able to find some efficiencies.”
According to the United Nurses of Alberta, the move has meant 13 RN positions have been eliminated, and UNA First vice-president Bev Dick says the union has no idea how many more layoffs might be ahead.
The UNA says about 200 RN positions have been eliminated since the start of May, but AHS says in this case, nurses will be re-hired once the beds are re-classified.
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