Media Advisory - ONA President to Join St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton RNs at Rally to Stop RN Cuts

HAMILTON, ON, Feb. 29, 2016 /CNW/ - Ontario Nurses' Association (ONA) President Linda Haslam-Stroud will join front-line registered nurses (RNs) from St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton on March 1 for an information picket and rally in Hamilton.

Haslam-Stroud, herself a renal transplant nurse from St. Joe's, will be with RNs to educate the community about the impact of RN cuts and to urge the public to sign a petition to end the cuts that are damaging quality patient care.

St. Joseph's Healthcare has announced that it is cutting 84 RN positions to help balance its budget. Haslam-Stroud, RN says that the move is evidence that money is valued more than patient care.

"The evidence shows that health outcomes for our patients are negatively impacted by RN cuts," says Haslam-Stroud. "Studies show there is a direct link between cutting RNs and an increased risk of patients suffering complications and death. ONA members are calling on the government to stop sitting silently by as RN care is cut out of our hospitals."

The RNs will be at St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton at noon on March 1, the day that individual layoff notices will be given to the nurses affected. The nurses will be collecting signatures on a petition to deliver to the office of MPP Ted McMeekin. To date in 2016, more than 400 RN positions have been cut from Ontario hospitals.

ONA is the union representing 60,000 registered nurses and allied health professionals, as well as more than 14,000 nursing student affiliates, providing care in hospitals, long-term care facilities, public health, the community, clinics and industry.

Who:	ONA President Linda Haslam-Stroud, ONA front-line registered nurses
What:	Rally and information picket to protest RN cuts
When:	Tuesday, March 1, 2016 at 12:00 noon
Where:	St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton, 50 Charleton Ave. E., Hamilton

Visit us at: www.ona.org, Facebook.com/OntarioNurses, Twitter.com/OntarioNurses

SOURCE Ontario Nurses' Association

Ontario Nurses' Association: Sheree Bond, [phone], ext. 2430, cell: [phone], [email protected]; Melanie Levenson, [phone], ext. 2369, [email protected]