By Tyler Sutherland
A nurse loads a syringe with flu vaccine for injection at the Victoria Clipper Terminal in Victoria Saturday Oct. 23, 2004. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chuck Stoody)
WINNIPEG — The union representing more than 12,000 nurses in the province is raising concern over the number of overtime hours nurses are working at the St. Boniface Hospital.
The Manitoba Nurses Union says overtime levels this year have already surpassed those of 2017 since changes to the health-care system were recently put into place at the hospital.
We’ve been hearing from nurses that mandatory overtime has been increasing dramatically since changes were implemented at St. Boniface,” said MNU president Sandi Mowat.
Mowat says the union is demanding immediate action from the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority and Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen.
Since January 1, the MNU has received 328 incidence reports relating to mandatory overtime, including in departments of surgery, medicine, emergency, palliative care, and woman & child.
“We’ve been told repeatedly by the region and the provincial government that the changes they’re making would help reduce the overtime nurses were required to work, but we’re seeing the exact opposite,” added Mowat.
The St. Boniface Hospital has about 1,600 nurses.
