Province helping accredit health workers living in Sask. to counter shortage

It’s about to get easier for health-care workers from other countries to work in Saskatchewan.

Premier Scott Moe said part of the work being done to address the physician and health-care worker shortage in the province includes expediting accreditation processes for people from other countries who now live here.

The premier said work alongside accreditation boards is “already underway and in many cases it is complete” to expedite the process for health-care workers who already live in Saskatchewan.

Saskatchewan people can expect to see work on the Health Human Resources Action Plan (HHRAP) come to fruition this fall, Moe said. The goal of the plan is to add 1,000 health-care workers to the province.

“Most important is that you actually deliver on that plan,” Moe said.

In the weeks ahead, Moe said more people will be coming to Saskatchewan from other areas of the world to work in health care. Both rural and urban positions will be filled, the premier said.

“We have every intent to be in a much stronger position when it comes to the number of frontline health-care folks that we have offering the services we so desperately need,” Moe said.

As part of the $60 million pledged to recruit more health-care workers to the province, Moe said incentives are being offered to fill positions in certain hard-to-recruit areas and disciplines.

“We will work them through that process as quickly as we’re able,” he said.

The problem of qualified workers who do not have licences to practise in Canada has been raised by medical professionals in Saskatchewan, who said they could bolster Saskatchewan’s medical workforce and assist with the current shortage.

A call has also been put out, Moe explained, to people who are qualified but not accredited to practise in Saskatchewan, to provide their contact information to the government.

So far, Moe said, the response has been “tremendous.” As of Monday, Moe said there were about 400 trained health-care professionals who had responded.

“We’re going to work through that process on a one-by-one basis to bring as much support to our frontline health-care workers in community after community, facility after facility, in this province,” he said.

Moe also said the government will assist financially with the accreditation process — that help is part of the $60-million action plan.

The premier noted the needs of each individual applicant will likely be different, depending on whether they need training or the recognition of foreign credentials, and on the work they are equipped to do.