Merriman believes province is processing foreign-trained nurses quickly enough

For quite some time, Saskatchewan has been searching for nurses from outside the country.

The province is finding them in the Philippines and elsewhere, but people are questioning whether the health-care professionals are being processed quickly enough.

Health Minister Paul Merriman told Gormley on Friday he believes the province is doing just that.

“I think we have to balance the expedition of getting nurses in Saskatchewan with getting the right nurses in Saskatchewan,” Merriman said.

More specifically, the minister said he wants to ensure the nurses have the qualifications that are expected here in Saskatchewan.

“We want to make sure that we’re … bringing them in in a timely manner and … that we’re distributing them to areas across the province that need them,” Merriman added.

The province is currently working to welcome more Filipino nurses, but they have to undergo additional training once they get here.

The same is true for nurses who were educated at a nursing school in the Philippines that follows the American curriculum.

Merriman said that’s because the nursing curriculum in Saskatchewan is more advanced.

“Our nurses are so highly qualified and (are) sought out internationally,” he added. “That’s why a nurse (who) graduates from Saskatchewan can go work anywhere in the world.”

The minister said he feels the Philippines offers the best pool of nurses to draw from.

“We had two recruitment missions, boots on the ground, to sit down (with them), so they understand what our criteria (are) in Saskatchewan,” he said.

Merriman confirmed those missions have generated a lot of activity, including 400 conditional job offers.

He said the government is also balancing that off by hiring around 300 local graduates since last December.

Both Alberta and Nova Scotia fast-track nurses from the Philippines and many other countries to start working in their health-care systems, but Saskatchewan does not.

Merriman said only nurses from the U.S. and the United Kingdom are fast-tracked in Saskatchewan, adding the province’s main goal is a sustained draw on the Philippines.

“We really want to make sure that we’re not watering down the standard, (but I’m) not saying that other provinces are doing that,” he said.