Premier asked about solving labour shortage at PA Chamber lunch

“The human resource challenge is not in any way specific or exclusive to Saskatchewan. The challenge that we collectively have attracting nurses, attracting lab techs, attracting physicians into our communities and our facilities.”

The expansion of the Victoria Hospital in Prince Albert will begin soon and when it is done, it will need an additional 500 workers in an area that has seen a shortage for years, acutely so since the pandemic.

Moe said the province has had success in hiring nurses in particular, including 400 Filipino grads with 170 already working.

In the recent budget announcement, the province said it would increase the number of training seats for skilled labour.

Prince Albert’s youth psychiatric services closed two years ago due to a lack of psychiatric doctors and nurses and patients are now diverted to Saskatoon or Regina.

Moe pointed out that until recently, there were no seats to train psychiatric nurses in the province but that has been changed, part of a second part of the approach for the labour shortage, which is to train existing residents.

“I won’t say it isn’t going to be a challenge but I do have a strong level of confidence that the human resources that we have put together, the health human resource recruiting plan…is starting to show results.”

He pointed to a 23 per cent reduction in wait times for surgeries as proof that the strategy is working, while saying there is still work to be done.

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com

by Susan McNeil

Premier asked about solving labour shortage at PA Chamber lunch

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