With 175 jobs on the line, nearly 12,000 people in B.C. have signed a petition which could be tabled before the legislature as early as next week.
The petition is calling on the provincial government to cancel plans by the Interior Health Authority (IHA) to privatize hospital laundry services in 11 communities in the region.
The current laundry services support 18 jobs in Penticton which would be lost if IHA contracts the service to the private companies that have been invited to bid on the work.
It is also unknown how it will affect the new patient care tower at Penticton Regional Hospital. The second-phase of the five-storey project was to include renovations to the laundry services area.
Local governments in Kamloops and Nelson have adopted motions to urge the IHA to reconsider. Akbal Mund, the mayor of Vernon, agreed he’d like to keep the jobs in Vernon.
“I’d like to see the numbers because $1 million is not much to keep laundry in Vernon. I’d like to see it stay in Vernon,” he said during a council meeting on April 27.
Penticton Mayor Andrew Jakubeit said council isn’t taking a stance on Interior Health’s decision making process.
“Interior Health and the province are trying to be cost effective in the way they deliver best value and we’re not in the health services business, so it’s difficult for us to comment on and dictate how they deliver that best value and service,” Jakubeit said.
The Hospital Employees Union secretary-business manager Jennifer Whiteside is hoping the province and IHA will make investments towards upgrading and replacing equipment — approximately $10 million over the next decade.
“The health authority has been clear that their laundry workers are doing an excellent job,” said Whiteside in a press release. “It’s disappointing that the provincial government and IHA would jeopardize efficient hospital support services and the livelihood of 175 workers over a relatively modest investment in equipment repair and replacement.”
“And the possibility that the jobs could be trucked out of the region altogether adds insult to injury.”
The announcement that the IHA would explore the privatization of hospital laundry at five major hospitals in Kelowna, Vernon, Kamloops, Penticton and Nelson, along with services in six smaller communities, came last fall.
Whiteside is speaking at a rally Wednesday against the IHA’s plans. The rally will take place on the corner of Pandosy Street and Royal Avenue in Kelowna
Private laundry services were invited to bid for the work in February and a decision is expected later this summer.