The London Health Sciences Centre says there will be no layoffs, but the equivalent of 107 full-time positions are being cut to help slash the hospital's $1.1 billion budget by 3.4 per cent.
Murray Glendining, acting president and CEO of LHSC, says "This will be achieved through attrition. It will all be achieved through planning these reductions over time, and we don't expect anyone to receive a layoff package."
The $37.2 million in cuts are being made in the 2014-2015 budget to deal with a 0.5 per cent reduction in funding from the province, inflation costs and to focus on improvement priorities.
All hospital departments and services were asked to cut their budget's by one per cent, but LHSC says the focus is on finding savings outside of direct patient care areas and by increasing efficiency.
"We've looked at the changes and spoken with our quality and safety experts, spoken with health infection experts and we're comfortable, this round, we will not affect patient care," Glendinning adds.
In total the working hours being eliminated are equivalent to 107 full-time positions, including 27 full-time nursing positions and about 41 full-time cleaning positions for non-patient care areas.
The LHSC says the reduction will come through normal turnover and will not impact quality standards.
Hospital officials say the health system must transform to be sustainable and they are in support of increasing primary care and community supports to help ease the pressure of a high volume of patients on hospitals.
Glendining said in a statement “During the last fiscal year LHSC has, on average, operated at 103 per cent occupancy which is six per cent over our target of 97 per cent, making flow into, through and out of hospital a serious challenge for care providers and a frustration for many patients...It is clear that future population health needs will put even greater strain on system resources."
