Sask. government launches plan to expand health-care workforce

The Saskatchewan government has launched a plan it hopes will add more than 1,000 employees to its health-care system.

The plan, dubbed the Health Human Resources Action Plan, was included in the 2022-23 budget. The government said its investment will total more than $60 million over the next several years.

Health Minister Paul Merriman said during a media conference the government learned a lot this summer about what needs to be done in order to get the system back up to a high standard.

“We got to experience a lot of feedback from the nurses and the health-care providers when (Rural and Remote Health) Minister (Everett) Hindley and I were travelling the province,” Merriman said. “What we heard consistently is we need more staff and more people in rural Saskatchewan.

“In rural Saskatchewan, we have challenges of half-time positions; now those will be full-time positions. We had some direct, honest feedback from health-care workers which helped shape this plan. This isn’t just a plan for today, this is a plan for the future as well.”

Recruitment

The government release said hundreds of workers will be recruited over two years from abroad. To that end, a recruitment mission to the Philippines is set for the fall to promote opportunities in Saskatchewan and a Memorandum of Understanding is being negotiated with the Government of the Philippines.

As well, four “health system navigators” will start work this fall to help internationally educated health-care workers move into the system.

Merriman says those who move to Saskatchewan will have the proper supports in place so they can settle comfortably in their new community.

“These will help guide internationally educated health-care professionals with licensing and finding a job within the (Saskatchewan Health Authority) and other health-care organizations,” he explained.

A call is going out to unlicensed internationally educated health-care professionals (IEHPs) and others with experience in the field who are living in the province or in Canada who may be eligible for training or employment to join the workforce in Saskatchewan.

Merriman said the government is willing to lend a hand to health-care workers who might have their credentials in another country, but not in Canada.

“Today we’re announcing a province-wide callout to Saskatchewan residents with medical training from international institutions,” he said. “These residents may require relicensing and retraining for their medical profession.

“We’ll hire as many people out there as we possibly can get within our health-care system. If there’s somebody out there who wants a position in health care, we’ll hire them. We’ll bring them in, train them, help them with their education and we will find placement for them. We do know we need 1,000 health-care workers to stabilize our system of the next couple years.”

Training

Saskatchewan has introduced an accelerated training, assessment and licensing pathway for internationally educated nurses — the first such program in Canada. It includes support for recruits from other countries to move to the province and start work here.

The first group from the Philippines is to start online training this fall.

The government noted it’s also possible that post-secondary partners will offer programs to help the campaign, including adding training seats and the potential of creating new professions such as physician assistants.

Already, 150 nursing seats have been added in Saskatchewan’s registered nursing, registered psychiatric nursing, and nurse practitioner education programs.

“We have supports in place to streamline the process so international health-care workers have opportunities within our health-care workforce,” Merriman said. “If you’re a candidate or know someone who is, we want to hear from you.”

Incentives

A new program will offer incentives of up to $50,000 over three years for a return-of-service agreement for hard-to-recruit positions, mainly in rural and remote areas.

The government has other financial incentives available, including loan forgiveness programs, bursaries and supports to those interested in working in health care in the province.

A student loan forgiveness program of up to $20,000 will also be available if they choose to work in rural communities.

Retaining workers

The government said 100 new permanent full-time positions will be created and 150 part-time positions will be converted to full-time permanent positions for high-demand jobs in rural and remote areas.

As well, new mentorship programming will be created and the Saskatchewan Health Authority will work with partners to create a First Nations and Métis recruitment and retention strategy.

“These initiatives will provide positive impacts on rural and remote communities in the short term and will help to reduce the current service disruptions,” Hindley said.

“Our government is delivering solutions that will simplify processes, remove obstacles, and cut red tape so qualified people can work in Saskatchewan as quickly as possible,” Merriman added.

“By identifying and assisting with licensing for internationally educated residents living in Saskatchewan, along with welcoming and supporting hundreds of health-care recruits over the next two years, and improving awareness of opportunities in the province, we will achieve success,” he said.

Information on all of the initiatives is available here.

A new Saskatchewan Healthcare Recruitment Agency has been created to co-ordinate the recruitment and retention efforts of physicians, nurses and other health professionals.

Merriman thinks the Saskatchewan government’s plan differs from other governments’ health-care plans because they’re specifically targeting certain areas and positions.

“I think specifically we’re targeting the positions we’ve seen in service disruptions in rural Saskatchewan,” he stated. “We need to have a lot of support in rural Saskatchewan because what we’ve seen with those service disruptions is people are flowing into the city and then we’re creating backlogs within our emergency area. We want to make sure we have the right people in the right place not just in the city’s, but in rural and primary care.”

NDP responds

The NDP responded to the government’s plan by saying it doesn’t address the staffing shortfall in the province.

“The plan announced today is something the government should have been doing for years. Instead, they sat on their hands and made excuses while Saskatchewan’s hospitals were being run into the ground,” Health Critic Vicki Mowat said in a release.

“While it’s good to see action on our call for full-time positions and training seats, nearly half of what was announced today are repackaged old policies.”

According to the NDP, only 14 of the 26 measures announced Wednesday were new. As well, it said the plan meets only two-thirds of the current job postings on the SHA website.

“Pledging to hire 1,000 health-care workers two years down the road when the SHA has 1,500 job postings today — and likely many more vacancies — simply won’t cut it,” Mowat said in the release.

“Health-care workers are leaving for other provinces like British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario despite the higher cost of living. When it comes to retention, this plan is vague on details and fails to provide concrete strategies to keep health-care workers in Saskatchewan. Retention should have been priority number one.”

— With files from 980 CJME’s Shane Clausing