Provincial government won’t equalize imagery tech bonuses

Provincial government won’t equalize imagery tech bonuses

On Friday afternoon, Le Droit first reported that the provincial government announced has closed the door on equalizing the retention bonuses for medical imagery techs in the region. Earlier this year technicians working at hospitals in the city were offered $22,000 bonuses, and it was only later in the summer that a slightly smaller $18,000 bonus was offered to technicians working in the Pontiac, Maniwaki and Wakefield hospitals.

Currently, five of the six full-time imagery technicians at the Pontiac Hospital have applied to work elsewhere, four of those at the hospitals in Hull and Gatineau and one at a facility in Ontario. The hospital currently has 8 full-time positions available with two unfilled at the moment, as well several part-time technicians.

On September 9, the offers for the positions in the city will be finalized, but it’s currently unclear how many of those who have applied will be accepted and will actually follow through with leaving.

Municipal officials as well as Pontiac MNA André Fortin have decried the disparity, and Fortin highlighted how the minister had seen the reality on the ground during his recent visit to the Pontiac just a few days earlier.

“The very first thing that the Health Minister heard on Tuesday when he was at Shawville was, ‘You need to fix the pay equity across the region for radiology techs, or else services will be impacted significantly here,'” Fortin wrote on social media. “Three days later, his CAQ government is completely shutting the door to paying our techs the same as in the City. This is insulting to our workers, it’s a lack of respect for our population who desperately needs services. The impacts of this decision will be felt for a long time.”