It has been almost a year since financial scandal rocked the taxpayer-funded organization, and interim president Ron McKerlie calls Ornge a “vastly different” entity today — one where employees feel comfortable broaching concerns, and where the troubling legacy of disgraced former president Chris Mazza is being erased day by day.
But after Mr. McKerlie delivered those comments to the Economic Club of Canada last week, a number of Ornge staff approached the National Post with a very different view.
“It’s a completely top-down culture. … They listen and listen and listen, but almost nothing changes,” said one Ornge pilot, who, along with several other staffers, spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.
“All of us are under stress,” the pilot said. “Everybody’s married, their wife’s telling them, ‘you’ve got to get out of that place.’ Their moods are changing.”
Ornge recently made headlines after reports surfaced that its Thunder Bay pilots were grounded for hundreds of hours this summer due to a paramedic shortage. And in August, the air ambulance service faced criticism for suspending whistleblower pilot Bruce Wade over unspecified health and safety concerns.
One major dispute centres on Ornge’s decision to terminate its contract with Canadian Helicopters Ltd. (CHL), bringing flight operations in house. Though the decision was made before Mr. McKerlie took the helm, it did not fully take effect until this past March. Helicopter pilots enjoyed more generous compensation under CHL’s employ, and Ornge expected to save money on that part of the deal.
But pilots says Ornge is unable to provide the same level of service, with helicopters sitting idle far more often and veteran staff quitting in protest, further damaging service.
Mr. McKerlie suggested those who are complaining about the culture at Ornge represent a fraction of the workforce and may be motivated by a desire to regain their CHL perks.
“The issues that are being raised are being raised by a small group of employees who are former CHL helicopter pilots, who are unhappy with the decision that was made to move the rotor-wing operations from CHL into Ornge,” he said.
Mr. McKerlie declined to comment on any of the specific complaints, saying he did not wish to fight with staff in the media.
But although the CHL dispute appears to be fuelling much of the discontent, employees from other areas of the business have also raised concerns about the work environment at Ornge.
According to one veteran communications centre worker, “constant, chronic downstaffing” pervades all aspects of the organization, from aviation to medicine to dispatch.
“We run completely short-staffed all the time. We have a group of people working in the [communications centre] who are scheduled now 12 hours, no breaks, because that’s how short-staffed we are,” the worker said. “In fact, they have to take a telephone to the bathroom.”
While patient care has remained excellent, the staffer said, it has become more difficult for the air ambulance service to retain top talent.
“They keep promising to bring numbers up, but the reality is they can’t,” added one former Ornge staffer. “They don’t have the money, nor the qualified training infrastructure, nor the right people. Those right people have either been fired or current ones refuse to be a part of it because they don’t believe in the organization.”
The “basic improvements” expected under the new administration have simply not materialized, the communications centre worker added.
“There’s been many times I’ve come home and been like, ‘I’m going to quit tomorrow,’” he said, “because I just can’t take it anymore.”
Original Article
Source: national post
Author: Megan O'Toole
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