Overtime at the Pontiac Hospital has grown steadily over the past five years, according to documents obtained by THE EQUITY through several access to information requests, topping a million dollars in 2020. Nurses and orderlies made up the bulk of the 23,461 hours, which a source at the hospital chalked up to staff departing for jobs elsewhere.

Hospital overtime tops $1 million

CALEB NICKERSON
PONTIAC Feb. 10, 2021
Overtime hours at the Pontiac Hospital have more than quadrupled since 2014, and topped a million dollars a year in 2020.
THE EQUITY obtained the information through several access to information requests and it provides a precise picture of just how much chronic short-staffing is costing the regional health authority.
This article will focus on the hospital numbers specifically, but there will be a follow up in the coming weeks examining the region’s long-term care facilities, which this newspaper has previously shown to be in a similar situation.
The numbers for the year 2020 follow a disturbing trend line that THE EQUITY first covered in an article published on Dec. 4, 2019.
Back in 2014, prior to . . .

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