Two hundred registered nurses in the Fraser Health Authority, including 23 at the Abbotsford Regional Hospital and Cancer Centre, are worried about their jobs.

Linda Pipe, the Fraser Valley representative for the B.C. Nurses’ Union, said it has been learned that 200 RNs will be getting layoff notices.

She said nurses in Abbotsford were called into a meeting last Thursday and told the notices will be coming, but they can be placed in other positions in the health authority.

Pipe is skeptical that these nurses will be given jobs elsewhere in the region, as the layoffs will come at almost the same time as 234 acute care beds are repurposed to PATH (Patient Assessment and Transition Home) beds, primarily to handle elderly patients.

The move – effectively setting up long-term care units in each hospital – saves Fraser an estimated $2 million this year because there will be less pressure to pay for other spaces outside of hospitals to handle patients who need what’s referred to as an alternate level of care.

Acute care beds require RNs, while long-term care patients in the PATH beds can be seen to by Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs), who take less training and earn less money.

The staff in Abbotsford were informed that 20 beds in the Cheam II ward, which was used for neurology and palliative care patients requiring specialized nurses, will now be used for PATH beds.

“They’re trying everything they can to squeeze the public system,” said Pipe.

Pipe added that cutting acute care beds and RNs is “extremely short-sighted.”

She said nurses given layoff notices have options – apply for vacancies if they are qualified, bump junior nurses, go to casual status, or find work with another employer.

However, Fraser Health CEO Nigel Murray assured Black Press there will be positions for the RNs.

“None of those registered nurses are losing their jobs,” he said.

Murray explained they will be redeployed into other areas, in some cases into public health positions.

“There’s plenty of work,” Murray said. “We have lots of vacancies in Fraser Health.”

The CEO acknowledged the health authority will be shifting RN positions to LPN positions in some settings, but denied the RNs will be laid off.

“I’m not aware of any layoffs of RNs where they’ve left the organization because of restructuring,” he said.

The health authority is looking for ways to avoid a funding shortfall of $160 million, and NDP health critic Adrian Dix said Fraser Health is not being forthright with the public about cuts.

“There are layoffs going on,” he said, noting that Fraser Health is cutting up to 9,000 elective surgeries.

“That’s a lot of work. The idea they’re not cutting is wrong.”

He said Fraser Health is closing surgeries, closing post-op beds, and converting hundreds of acute care beds into long-term care beds.

“All of these are measures that will cut nurses.

“It’s just obvious.”

Pipe said the quality of health care will be affected.

“For nurses, morale is extremely low, and for patients – they won’t get timely medical care.

“This is really serious,” said Pipe. “People need to be asking this government what the hell they’re doing.”

– With files from Jeff Nagel