Saskatchewan gov’t provides update on health-care recruitment plan

The Saskatchewan government says the majority of Saskatchewan’s spring nursing graduates appear willing to stay in the province to begin their careers.

In a media release Thursday, the government said more than 82 per cent of the 400 graduates “have expressed interest and been contacted” by the Saskatchewan Health Authority about possible placements in the province.

“It’s encouraging to see such a high level of interest expressed by our Saskatchewan nursing graduates with over 330 candidates seeking opportunities right here in the province,” Health Minister Paul Merriman said in the release.

“Our government is focused on retaining graduates coming out of our post-secondary system and providing opportunities to begin building their successful careers here in Saskatchewan.”

The government said that since December, the SHA has hired 338 grad nurses from the province and from across Canada.

Saskatchewan’s Health Human Resources Action Plan was launched in September in response to a significant shortage of doctors and health-care workers in the province.

The Ministry of Health said its plan aims to add 1,000 new employees to the health-care system by recruitment efforts, new training programs, incentives, and retention efforts. The government expects to spend $60 million on the plan over several years.

One avenue the government is using is recruiting internationally trained health-care workers, including nurses from the Philippines. In May, the province announced it was making improvements to the pathway for Internationally Educated Nurses (IENs) to get them into the workforce faster.

Recruitment

According to the government, 19 continuing care assistants and two medical laboratory assistants from the Philippines have arrived in Saskatchewan and are working in various locations.

More than one-third of the nearly 400 registered nurses from the Philippines who have received conditional job offers from the SHA are moving through the RN Pathway, the government said.

Over the past 20 months, 72 family doctors and 106 specialists have been recruited to Saskatchewan from outside the province. That includes 27 physicians recruited from outside the country.

Under the Saskatchewan International Physician Practice Assessment program, 16 doctors from the March cohort are expected to begin practising in the province by July. As well, 15 candidates from the June cohort are going through the process and are expected to start practising by October.

Training

The government said the SHA has hosted 70 job shadow opportunities in the province since September for high school students and adults interested in entering the field.

As well, a career fair held by the SHA in La Ronge in early May attracted more than 300 attendees from La Ronge and surrounding First Nations communities.

Incentives

Porcupine Plain has been added to the list of locations eligible for the Saskatchewan Rural and Remote Recruitment Incentive of up to $50,000, bringing the total to 53 communities.

Since launching in the fall, the program has approved 121 incentive packages for newly hired health-care workers across the province. The incentive is available in exchange for a three-year return of service.