Pontiac imagery technicians apply for jobs in city due to new bonuses

Pontiac imagery technicians apply for jobs in city due to new bonuses

Following the news last week that imagery technicians at the Pontiac and Wakefield Hospitals wouldn’t be receiving bonuses of around $20,000 offered to staff at other hospitals in the region, roughly half of the local technicians have applied to jobs elsewhere. The development was first reported in Shawville’s English-language newspaper The Equity.

Health authority CISSSO’s Pontiac representative Nicole Boucher-Larivière confirmed to CHIP 101.9 on Thursday that four of the hospital’s eight imagery technicians had applied to work at the Hull Hospital, with another potentially seeking work in Deep River Ont. She said that imagery technicians are vital for the ER and numerous other departments, and without a full staff, there is a very real risk of service interruptions.

Boucher-Larivière added that the applications take time and aren’t guaranteed to be successful, but was hopeful that in the meantime a solution would be found between the provincial treasury board and the union representing the technicians, the APTS.

Pontiac MNA André Fortin said that this situation was the predictable outcome of the steps that the provincial government has taken over the last two months, first offering bonuses and higher holiday pay at the end of April to techs at the Hull and Gatineau Hospitals, then including the Buckingham and Maniwaki Hospitals last week.

At the MRC Pontiac monthly meeting on June 19, council passed a resolution calling on treasury board President Sonia Lebel and Health Minister Christian Dubé to offer bonuses to the rest of the hospitals in the Outaouais.