Publication date: July 16, 2022 • 8 hours ago • 7 minutes read • 9 comments Pinecrest-Queensway CEO Christopher McIntosh said hundreds of people are on waiting lists for the center: “We know we need to see 2,500 more health clients at the center care and We know we can do this without new funding.” Photo by Robin Andrew / Provided

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Four health workers with decades of combined experience are set to lose their jobs at one of Ottawa’s busiest community health centers later this month.

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The two family physicians, a nurse practitioner and a registered nurse received termination notices without cause in April. Their last day of work is July 29. They were given no explanation for the layoffs, according to current and former employees who asked not to be named because they feared it would affect their work or future employment if they were identified. Pinecrest-Queensway Community Health Center (CHC) says the terminations are part of a restructuring that will allow it to serve 2,500 more health care clients without new funding at a time when primary health care is in short supply. The center’s CEO says the restructuring is about providing better care. But the move, during a global shortage of health workers, has raised concerns from some who fear the loss of experienced health professionals will disrupt and harm many of the centre’s vulnerable patients. Others say the restructuring does not explain why four experienced health professionals were laid off. That, they say, will mean less access to care, especially in the short term.

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“They work with some of the most marginalized people in our city. I’m very concerned with what I’m hearing,” Ottawa Center NDP MPP Joel Harden said of the terminations. “At a time when everyone is starving for health care staff or people are burned out, I don’t know how they tell people who are performing well that they have to leave because of restructuring.” Chandra Pasma, newly elected NDP MPP for Ottawa West-Nepean, which includes the Pinecrest-Queensway watershed, says she’s concerned about the well-being of patients. He says many of the center’s patients have suffered traumatic experiences such as war, abuse and more. “Losing trusted healthcare workers adds unnecessary stress.” One of those patients said she was shocked to receive notice that her doctor of 15 years was leaving.

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“I’m devastated that she’s leaving,” she said. “It affects me medically. I’m very concerned that they’re taking away a person who knows me and knows my record.” The patient, who asked not to be named to protect her privacy, noted that health care workers “have been there for us during this crazy COVID pandemic. Having this done to them is bad enough, but during COVID?” Other upset patients called the clinic seeking information. OTTAWA – July 14, 2022 – Pinecrest Community Health Center at 1365 Richmond Road in Ottawa on Thursday. TONY CALDWELL, Postmedia. Photo by Tony Caldwell/Postmedia The centre, which serves an area around Bayshore and the west end, as well as parts of Barrhaven, has recruited people to replace the nurse and nurse practitioner who are being let go. The replacements are relatively recent graduates, according to current and former staff members. But CHC has not yet replaced the two doctors. The center says it expects to be fully staffed before the end of the summer.

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“He has restructured internal teams and changed roles to create a stronger team and ensure health care appointments are available when clients need them,” Pinecrest-Queensway Community Health Center said in a statement. It said CHC serves 25-30 percent fewer patients than it is funded to serve “due to antiquated employee and patient scheduling practices.” Forty-five percent of the center’s patients have sought care from another health or emergency provider as a result, community health center officials say. The restructuring means a small number of employees are no longer with PQCHC, the statement said. “Due to the desperate need of many for primary care, this work has been underway for years and has accelerated in recent months.”

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But observers, health providers and former and current workers are concerned about the disruption and the inability to replace experienced staff at a time when they are hard to recruit. Those familiar with the situation also say some of those let go were among the center’s busiest, and others were willing to accept more patients but were not asked to. Harden, who has not spoken directly with the center’s managers, said the restructuring right now “doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense.” In an interview, Pinecrest-Queensway CEO Christopher McIntosh said hundreds of people were on waiting lists for the center. “We know we need to see 2,500 more healthcare clients at the center and we know we can do that without new funding.”

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This will mean shortening many primary care appointments from the current default of 30 minutes to an average of 20 minutes, he said. “We know from other providers that the average appointment can be shorter and meet the complexity of our clients’ needs without impacting care.” She said the center “needs to do a better job” of asking clients ahead of time about the appointment and then making the right time with the right professional, which could include a dietitian, chiropractor or registered nurse, instead of a doctor. or nurse practitioner. Customers who need longer appointments will still have them, he said. “The plan is to improve care.” Current and former employees said the affected health care workers all had strong performance reviews and, cumulatively, more than 50 years of experience. The doctors who have not yet been replaced care for more than 700 patients.

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Current and former employees said they were concerned about how disruptive the move would be, especially for vulnerable customers. They are also concerned about the extra pressure it could put on others working at the centre. Many of Pinecrest-Queensway’s patients have experienced physical or sexual trauma, have complex health issues, and struggle with poverty, housing and other social issues. Appointments tend to be long because many of the patients need a translator and, because it can be difficult for them to get to the center, they bring more than one issue at a time. “This patient population needs very experienced and dedicated (health care) providers,” said one of the group of concerned former and current employees. Last year, five health care providers left the center.

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Dr. Alison Eyre, a family physician at the Centretown Community Health Center and an associate professor in uOttawa’s department of family medicine, says she is particularly concerned that some of those losing their jobs include French-speaking health workers. There are many members of the city’s Franco-African immigrant community in the Pinecrest Queensway watershed, Eyre said. For them, being able to receive services in their language is vital. A study published in CMAJ (The Canadian Medical Association Journal) this week underscored how important it is for patients to receive health care in their own language. Among other things, he found that French speakers who received care in their language were 24 percent less likely to die while in hospital than those who did not receive care from a French-speaking doctor.

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Eyre says her concern about the situation is heightened because it’s hard to hire health workers right now, and even harder to hire those who speak multiple languages ​​and have experience. Pinecrest Queensway, however, says it expects to have a “more diverse” health care staff as a result of the restructuring. Eyre, like Harden, said she was baffled why the center would let people go as part of a restructuring during a pandemic, a health workforce crisis and some of the greatest pressures the system has ever experienced. health of the province. “I can’t see what kind of restructuring you would have to leave health workers in this climate,” he said. “I should understand the thinking behind it.”

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Former and current employees describe the management culture at the community health center as inflexible and said managers were reluctant to adapt health care staff who had…