Last week we wrote about a delegation heading to Manila, Philippines on a five-day mission to actively promote Saskatchewan's health care employment opportunities.

That was touted again recently as another update in came in regarding the Government's efforts in the healthcare sector, as they shared the latest progress made across their main goals to bring healthcare workers to the province; and keep them here.

One thing included in the recent list had to do locally with the situation in Wilkie:

  • Four health care workers have been awarded incentive packages of up to $50,000 over three years for a return-of-service agreement in Meadow Lake, Wilkie, Kamsack and Weyburn. This is part of the Rural and Remote Recruitment Incentive that aims to attract new employees to targeted positions in rural and remote areas. (Found under 'Incentivize')

According to the Government, Saskatchewan's Health Human Resources (HHR) Action Plan continues to make progress in a number of important areas under the four pillars to recruit, train, incentivize and retain more health care workers in the province. Here is the rest of the list through the Provincial release:

Recruit

  • Mission to the Philippines, November 28 - December 2:
  • The in-person mission will focus on recruitment of qualified health care workers including registered nurses, continuing care assistants and other high priority professions. 
  • The delegation will host a series of information sessions for hundreds of Filipino health care workers interested in moving to Saskatchewan. Sessions will assist potential recruits with the licensing and regulatory process, immigration process, relocation supports and other information. 
  • The SHA will conduct in-person interviews with the goal of extending conditional job offers to qualified candidates. 
  • An interactive web page https://www.saskatchewan.ca/HHR-Philippines dedicated to the mission has generated a high level of interest among a Philippine audience. About 3,000 applications have been received for information sessions and over 1600 registrations have been confirmed to attend the information sessions. 
  • Four Ukrainian newcomers have been hired into the health care workforce. 
  • 20 offers have been extended by the SHA to candidates from the Philippines for Continuing Care Assistant positions and two for Medical Lab Assistant positions. 
  • 70 Registered Nurse (RN) candidates from the Philippines have begun the process to join Saskatchewan's workforce. An additional 40 Filipino applicants are working through the process with the assistance of Saskatchewan experts and officials. 
  • A Navigator has been hired to assist internationally educated health care workers with potential career opportunities, settlement and orientation. Three more navigators will join the team in the upcoming weeks. 

Train

  • SHA has interviewed and provided conditional letters of offers to six internationally trained nurses (IENs) already in Saskatchewan who commenced the bridging program mid-November. 
  • Thousands of students from across the province attended the "See Your Future" - Education and Career Fairs in Saskatoon in November to learn about careers and training opportunities post-graduation.

Incentivize

  • Four health care workers have been awarded incentive packages of up to $50,000 over three years for a return-of-service agreement in Meadow Lake, Wilkie, Kamsack and Weyburn. This is part of the Rural and Remote Recruitment Incentive that aims to attract new employees to targeted positions in rural and remote areas. 
  • The Ministry of Health has approved 111 Clinical Placement Bursaries for students in an eligible health discipline between April and November 2022. 
  • The SHA engages regularly with nursing students by providing updates, creating connections, hosting in-person engagement events and more recently the new Grad Nurse Expression of Interest initiative.

Retain

  • Progress has been made in implementing new full-time positions and expanding part-time positions to full-time positions in nine high-priority classifications in rural and remote locations experiencing service disruptions.
  • 66 positions have been staffed.
  • 64 positions are in the hiring process. 
  • Watrous, Kipling and Big River have been added to the list of eligible locations. There are now a total of 50 rural and remote locations targeted for additional staffing.
  • The peer-to-peer clinical support program and staff retention programs are currently being developed.
  • Delegates and physician recruiters attended the national Family Medicine and Psychiatry recruitment fairs in Ontario in November.

"We're working aggressively to address the pressing need for more health care staff, especially in high demand occupations and rural and remote areas," Minister of Rural and Remote Health Everett Hindley said. "We're spreading the word far and wide that opportunities are available at every stage, from recent graduates to experienced professionals from here and abroad. Saskatchewan is a great place to build your career and enjoy a high quality of life."

 A commercial aired during the Grey Cup reached a large national audience. This is another key part of their efforts, as you may notice an advertisement towards careers in Saskatchewan health this winter.

Check out the full release from the Province here.