Lab staff shortage at Thompson hospital has reached critical stage, union and NDP say

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This article was published 25/04/2023 (914 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The union representing laboratory technologists at Thompson General Hospital says a severe staff shortage is threatening emergency services, prompting the Manitoba NDP to repeat its calls for government to reach a new deal with allied health workers.

The northern Manitoba hospital is currently short nine laboratory technologists, representing a 75 per cent vacancy rate, according to the Manitoba Association of Health Care Professionals.

“Lab staff are doing everything they can to keep the hospital running, but they need help and they’re not getting it,” union president Jason Linklater said in a release. “We are very concerned that the few technologists who are left won’t be able to hold out much longer.”

The hospital is to be staffed with 12 technologists, according to the union. However, six have left positions in Thompson since 2020. The shortage means laboratory technologists have been forced to work 47 hours straight, including full shifts and on-call time, to provide necessary services, the union said.

The technologists’ plight was raised by NDP Opposition Leader Wab Kinew and NDP health critic Uzoma Asagwara in question period Tuesday.

The pair blamed the staff shortage on wage freezes for MAHCP members who have been without a collective bargaining agreement for five years and who voted overwhelmingly in support of a strike mandate.

MAHCP is currently bargaining with Shared Health, which also represents health regions that employ the union’s members.

“The situation at the Thompson General Hospital is very dire,” Kinew said in question period, accusing Premier Heather Stefanson of disrespecting health-care workers and prioritizing bureaucracy over the front line.

Kinew has promised to cut administrative costs at Shared Health, the provincial health authority, if the NDP form government in the upcoming October general election.

“You can stand with the bloated (Progressive Conservative) health bureaucracy, or you can stand with us who are going to fix the front lines of health care right across the great province of Manitoba,” Kinew said.

Stefanson said she met as recently as Tuesday morning with a MAHCP member to hear their concerns. She accused the opposition of fear mongering.

“We will continue to stand up for all of those allied health-care workers who deserve to get a collective agreement in place, and we encourage Shared Health and the union to get together to ensure that that is done in an expeditious fashion,” she said.

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca