Local union rallies against Montfort Hospital

By Saif Kaisar

 

29496274_1610213279025730_1137427186748227584_nThe Canadian Union of Public Employees 4721 organized a rally outside the Montfort hospital (March 21, 2018). Saif Kaisar/OttawaMatters

The Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 4721 is concerned about the outsourcing of jobs at the Montfort Hospital.

It held an impromptu rally outside the facility at noon, Wednesday.

CUPE, which represents staff at the Montfort said the hospital is considering outsourcing jobs to SteriPro.

Those jobs include the sterilization of surgical equipment, and the union added that Montfort isn't the only hosptal in the region looking to outsource work to outside companies.

“The quality of the surgical instruments would not be as adequate and as clean as our people here. They are experts, in there, doing that job, and we want to keep those jobs inside,” said Laurin Levesque, President of CUPE 4721. 

He adds, “[SteriPro] had a contract signed with

Trillium hospital in Toronto. After four years, Trillium put an end to the contract because of the quality of the instruments that came in.”

Some hospital staff said they are concerned about SteriPro's track record, as staff at Trillium reported that blood and bone matter was a problem with instruments being returned to that hospital.

 

If a deal is reached between Montfort and SteriPro, equipment would be transported to SteriPro's facility in Mississuaga. Once it is sterilized at that facility, it would be transported back to Ottawa in trucks.

Geneviève Picard,  Director of Communications at Montfort Hospital, issued the following statement:

“Montfort, along with the other hospitals of the region, is participating in a regional 29511266_1610098385703886_6499344795222147072_ninitiative to audit of our sterilization services. 

The purpose of the audit is not to outsource our sterilization services, but to assess our compliance to standards, to ensure the quality and safety of our services.
 
This information and the purpose of the audit was communicated to our staff and our union representatives prior to the audit.
 
The audit went really well at Montfort; the company doing the audit has informed Montfort that we had excellent results and respected best practices.
 
We are delighted with the results of the audit, as they demonstrate the excellence of the services offered at Montfort.
 
In addition, we plan to invest a substantial amount into our current sterilization facilities over the coming months, to purchase new equipment.
 
This initiative is in line with Montfort’s mission to provide exemplary person-centred care.”

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