The Ottawa Hospital is eliminating 61 health-care support jobs, most of which are in the health-records department, it was announced Monday.

Only 24 of the positions are filled by full-time employees. The rest are part-time workers.

The layoffs result from the province cutting the hospital's budget by three per cent, according to Bruce Waller, president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 4000, which represents support staff and registered practical nurses.

"You know, here we are, we're going to be possibly bailing out GM and possibly bailing out the Big Three, but why would you cut that three per cent from hospitals?" Waller said.

"Now you're cutting in government sectors to appease the private sector. I don't know…. We just don't get that. Right?"

Waller said some of the full-time workers will take early retirement. He said all the affected employees will have to leave within a five-month period.

The jobs are being phased out as automated computer systems allow the hospital's medical records to move from paper to electronic form, Nicolas Ruszkowski, the hospital's acting vice-president of communications and public affairs, told the Ottawa Citizen.

"The automation of our medical records should help enhance the efficiency of patient care by making medical records more readily available to physicians delivering care," he said.