Plans to place Watson Lake's hospital under the authority of the Yukon Hospital Corp. (YHC) has rankled the facility's nurses, Watson Lake community members and the Yukon Employees Union (YEU).

The union has approached Premier Dennis Fentie to ensure he is made aware of the widespread opposition to the plan. The hospital is in the premier's riding.

A petition is being circulated by Watson Lake hospital staff. It alleges the transfer "will adversely affect the staff at the Watson Lake Cottage Hospital, thereby seriously damaging the delivery of health care."

Staff at the hospital declined to speak to the Star this morning.

A Watson Lake community member, speaking on condition of anonymity, said nurses there fear the move could relegate the current hospital to a nursing station, and the community would lose its doctors.

Fentie was unavailable for comment, but Liberal MLA Eric Fairclough weighed in this morning.

He accused the Fentie government of trying to hide the spiralling costs of converting the Watson Lake facility into a $25-million-plus hospital.

In September 2008, the Star learned the project to augment the community's multi-care facility was shifting to a full-blown hospital.

"(Liberal Leader) Arthur Mitchell said there was some other reason for transferring this, to cover up the cost overruns," Fairclough said of the change and economic uncertainty of the new project.

"The Yukon government doesn't want to answer questions and is attempting to transfer this issue outside the legislature."

Fairclough was also critical of the government's lack of consultation before plowing ahead with a recommendation emanating from the September 2008 Yukon Health Care Review.

"This is a big, big failure again on the part of the premier," said Fairclough

"What came out of the health review is to look at the possibility of transferring the hospital (to YHC), not to do it, but to look at it.

"And it's the premier's own community too; he didn't talk to anybody there about the impacts ... and now (he's) picking a pretty big fight with the union."

The YEU says changing the Watson Lake hospital's authority from the Health and Social Services (HSS) department to an arm's-length corporation would violate three collective agreements involving 30 hospital staff members.

Department spokeswoman Pat Living told the Star this morning that department staff and hospital corporation members will travel to Watson Lake early next week. While Living said no decision has been made, it appears the writing is on the wall.

"I think it would be fair to say that (changing the Watson Lake hospital's authority) looks pretty positive ... it was a strong recommendation from the Yukon Health Care Review report," said Living.

"We only have two hospitals in the territory; it only makes sense that they would be run from the same (place).

"However, it is a process; we need to meet with the staff, we have unions involved, we have gone from a government-run operation to being run from an independent corporation, and this is all expected to roll out as we move along."