RECRUITMENT GRANTS ATTRACTING MORE HEALTH WORKERS

One hundred and twenty health care workers will be providing care to Saskatchewan residents, thanks to recruitment grants introduced by the provincial government this past October.  Eighty of the health care workers were recruited from outside the province, 20 are new Saskatchewan health care graduates, and 20 are current Saskatchewan health care workers.

“Keeping and attracting key health providers in urban, rural and northern communities is a top priority of this government,” Health Minister Len Taylor said.  “I am pleased with the enthusiastic response to our recruitment grants, and I’m confident we are well on our way toward even further success in recruiting health workers to Saskatchewan and keeping them here.”

Of these workers, 75 are nurses and 45 are from the broader health workforce, including professionals such as respiratory therapists, physical therapists, and medical laboratory technologists.  More than one-third came from Alberta.  On average, they have committed to work in the province for two-and-a-half years in exchange for their grants.

The Saskatchewan Relocation Program and the Saskatchewan Rural, Northern and Hard-to-Recruit Program flow from the government’s $25 million retention and recruitment plan announced this past fall.  Through these two grant programs, the government is targeting to recruit 600 new health employees to fill vacancies over the next two years – approximately 400 nurses and 200 employees from the broader health workforce.

These programs are designed to build an overall capacity in the province by welcoming new employees, particularly those who used to reside in Saskatchewan; retain graduates from Saskatchewan health programs; build capacity in northern and rural locations; enhance recruitment to hard-to-recruit positions in Saskatoon and Regina; and retain current employees by filling vacancies, a move which should assist current employees with workload and ability to plan vacation time.

The Saskatchewan Relocation Program allows health workforce employees residing outside Saskatchewan to apply for up to $5,000 to assist with relocation costs, in return for a one-year commitment to work in Saskatchewan.

The Saskatchewan Rural, Northern and Hard-to-Recruit Program provides grants to Saskatchewan workers and those from outside the province to fill vacancies in northern and rural Saskatchewan.  The hard-to-recruit grant is available only to those outside the province and to new graduates, thereby increasing the total number of health care workers in Saskatchewan, rather than reshuffling the deck of health care workers already in the system.

These programs have been designed and recommended by committees that were established in September to advise the Minister on how the $25 million retention and recruitment plan money should be directed, working within the framework of the nationally recognized strategy, the Health Workforce Action Plan.

-30-

For more information, contact:

Joan Petrie
Health
Regina
Phone: 306-787-4083
Email: jpetrie@health.gov.sk.ca