Canadian Labour Reporter

Public-private partnership fails at mental health-care facility: Union TORONTO — Ontario Pub- lic Service Employees Union president Warren (Smokey) Thomas says the many threats to worker safety at Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care — outlined in a Toronto Star story — are another ex- ample of how public-private partnerships saddle the gov- ernment with inferior facilities, usually at a much greater cost to taxpayers. "The Waypoint fiasco should not be viewed in isolation," said Thomas. "Work conditions at the Toronto South Detention Centre are just as bad. The in- competence seen in the design and construction of these fa- cilities seriously threatens the health and safety of the workers." Both Waypoint and Toron- to South are products of the public-private partnerships this government claims are so successful, but that is not really the case, said Thomas. "They are a terrible deal for Ontario citizens. Ontario's Au- ditor General, who is the tax- payer's watchdog, says the gov- ernment has spent $8 billion more tax dollars than would have been the case if P3 facili- ties had been developed by the public sector," he said. "These public-private private partner- ships vacuum money out of the pockets of Ontario taxpayers for the benefit of Liberal sup- porters at the P3 Infrastruc- ture Ontario trough." Waypoint, located in Pene- tanguishene, Ont., opened in May 2014. The $474-million facility was a joint project by Infrastructure Ontario and the Ministry of Health and Long- Term Care. "Because of the inexperience of the private sector companies that built the facility, a great deal has gone wrong in the 17 months Waypoint has been open," Thomas said. "The gov- ernment ignored staff warnings about it opening prematurely, and their concerns remain ig- nored despite mounting patient attacks and security breaches." Patients have fashioned weapons from furniture, wall sockets and metal strappings behind the drywall used in the facility, he said. There have also been chronic failures in the central computerized lock sys- tem for all areas in the facility. These failures have resulted in numerous lockdowns and have placed staff at risk. The Star reported that the Workplace Safety and Insur- ance Board has received 107 claims from Waypoint staff since opening. Twelve inci- dents stemming from assaults, violent acts or harassment re- sulted in lost work time. One assault cited by the Star was a patient throwing a cup of boiling water in the face of a registered practical nurse. The nurse was hospitalized over- night and suffered burns to her right eye and face. In another incident, a patient left his secured room brandish- ing a homemade sword, forc- ing the facility into lockdown. This breach resulted in unprec- edented action by the employer. The OPP was called, charges were laid against the patient and he was removed from the facility, said OPSEU. "The Waypoint fiasco is part of the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care's campaign to privatize its operations as much as possible," said Thomas. "But privatization of the health-care system results in poorer service and sometimes even danger to the general pub- lic or public workers, whether it be a patient in Simcoe not get- ting the timely in-home wound treatment she needs after sur- gery or a mental health facility in Penetanguishene failing to provide proper security." LABOUR BRIEFS 2 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2015 FORMERLY CLV REPORTS Serving labour relations professionals since 1956 www.labour-reporter.com Published weekly by omson Reuters Canada Ltd. 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Labour Reporter Canadian www.labourreporter.com Photo: Yiannis Kourtoglou (Reuters) LABOUR LENS About 200 protestors blocked the entrance to the labour ministry in Athens, Greece, to protest a reform bill that would cut pensions by 10 per cent.

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