MEET CHRIS HADFIELD, FAMOUS CANADIAN ASTRONAUT TOMORROW! Invitation to Middle + High School Students • Abbotsford Centre • 2:45-4:30pm • Student Donation Min. $10 • Parent/Guardian with student by donation
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Hopefuls in the new Mission-Matsqui-Fraser Canyon riding speak to about 400 A7
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Deficit cited as nurses laid off at Menno Hospital Employees can re-apply with private contractor VOLUNTEER REACHES GOAL
Laura RODGERS Abbotsford News
About 60 nurses have been laid off at Menno Hospital in an effort to reduce costs for the deficit-ridden facility, a 151-bed seniors’ care home in central Abbotsford. Staffing will be taken over by an outside contractor, SimpeQ Care, and the nurses can re-apply for jobs at the home starting Oct. 5. Karen Baillie, CEO of Menno Place, which runs Menno Hospital and five other care facilities, says the new jobs will “definitely be (at) a lower wage.” Menno Place has run a cumulative deficit of $1.62 million since 2011, Baillie said, and this is the latest in a string of cost-cutting measures which have included layoffs of 10 executives and many support staff. Bailie expects this decision will save $500,000. Before taking these savings into account, Menno Place’s expected shortfall for 2015-2016 was $294,000. The decision was announced to staff on Tuesday. The next day, some of the laid-off nurses, along with more than 100 other members of the B.C. Nurses’ Union, set up an “information line” in front of the home, carrying signs criticizing Menno Place. “It’s horrible. We have families to support, houses, mortgages,” said Doris Rettich, one of the laid-off registered nurses. “We’ll have to apply back and see if they would hire us … some of us have been working here for over 35 years, so it’s huge because we care for the residents. They’re like our grandmas and grandpas.” The nurses received between two and six months notice, depending on seniority. Menno Hospital provides “complex care” to its senior residents, many of whom have serious health issues and require 24-hour nursing support. Eleven Continued on A4
A22 Cortlin Tonn realizing his dream job with opportunity with Vancouver Whitecaps
AWAITING ANSWERS A4 Children and youth representative has demanded explanations in teen’s death
BANQUET HALL APPROVED A6 In a close vote, council gives the OK to a social facility in an industrial area ■
■ Viewpoint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A8 ■
Classifieds. . . . . . . . . . . . . .A31
85¢ In protest of a mass layoff of nurses at Menno Hospital, announced Wednesday, nurses and union supporters staged an ‘information’ line on Marshall Road near the facility. LAURA RODGERS Abbotsford News
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