'I don't see any magic on the horizon': Expert says recruiting, retaining Sask. health workers will be tough
CBC
A health policy analyst says the Saskatchewan government's newly announced plans for recruiting and retaining health-care workers will be difficult.
The government said in its budget, released Wednesday, that it's creating a "new and independent agency" that will work to recruit and retain health-care workers.
The agency "will work with partners to create, implement and manage innovative short and long-term strategies and programs that support the recruitment and retention of health professionals," the Ministry of Health wrote to CBC News.
Work on establishing the agency will begin early in the fiscal year with a goal of starting operations in the fall, the ministry said.
Dr. Eben Strydom, president of the Saskatchewan Medical Association (SMA) and a family physician based in Melfort, said he doesn't know more details about the agency, but he thinks the government is taking the right approach.
"We're obviously very glad and pleased to see the fact that the government recognizes the issues that we have around recruitment and retention," Strydom said on Thursday.
He said he hopes the government consults the SMA, the Saskatchewan Health Authority, physicians and other groups on the agency plans.
There is $3.5 million in the budget for physician recruitment and retention initiatives, particularly targeting family doctors for rural areas of the province.
The government is also increasing spending by $1.5 million to bring 150 health-care workers from the Philippines to Saskatchewan, with a goal of reaching 300 by 2023-24.
Steven Lewis, a health policy consultant formerly based in Saskatchewan and adjunct professor of health policy at Simon Fraser University, says Saskatchewan has always had retention problems and that he isn't optimistic things will improve, unless significant moves are made.
Lewis said the pandemic has worsened the "culture of health care" in Saskatchewan.
"How's the pandemic management been? Dismal compared to other provinces," he said.
"How influential have health-care workers been in charting the course of the pandemic and being listened to and making sure that science has driven policy decisions as opposed to politics?"
Lewis pointed to additional challenges that come with being a physician in a rural area.
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