Two public sector employee unions say 91 hospital employees in the province, including some 
locally, are facing layoffs. The Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union and the Canadian Union of Public Employees say the 91 workers are with Health Information Services, scanning and archiving medical records.
locally, are facing layoffs. The Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union and the Canadian Union of Public Employees say the 91 workers are with Health Information Services, scanning and archiving medical records.Most of the employees affected work in rural parts of the province; 84 of them are women. Locally, they work at the Aberdeen, Eastern Memorial, Guysborough Memorial, Inverness Consolidated, St. Martha’s Regional, St. Mary’s Memorial and Strait Richmond Hospitals. CUPE Nova Scotia President Nan McFadgen says the Nova Scotia Health Authority plans to contract out this work to Iron Mountain, a mulitnational company based in Boston with offices in Burnside.
In a statement, the health authority says it has been exploring leveraging an existing partnership with a company that specializes in managing patient health records and documentation. The health authority says should it proceed, efforts will be made to minimize adverse effects on its employees, and any reduction in positions can be achieved through vacancies and normal attrition.