It includes retention bonuses, reimbursement, and double rate overtime
The province of Newfoundland and Labrador has unveiled additional measures to address the retention and recruitment challenges faced by the healthcare sector. In an announcement, the government said it collaborated with the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and the Association of Allied Health Professionals (AAHP) to develop the following initiatives:
- Retention Bonuses. Available to CUPE and AAHP members in areas where there is an identified retention and recruitment challenge
- Reimbursement of Licensing Fees for Applicable Retired Health Care Providers. Licensing fees will be paid for those who wish to return to work
- Double Rate Overtime. Available to identified CUPE and AAHP members in areas where there is an identified retention and recruitment challenge. Available until January 31, 2023, it aims to reduce delays in filling schedules and reduce the number of mandated and extended shifts
The new measures will be available to healthcare workers represented by CUPE and the AAHP. They’ll be informed by their regional health authorities about the initiatives from next week. Health Minister Tom Osborne thanked the leadership teams of CUPE and AAHP for the new measures, adding that they intend to have "meaningful results" for healthcare members with the initiatives.
"While we recognize that recruitment and retention issues dominate health care systems around the globe, we are dedicated to finding creative answers to the situation here in Newfoundland and Labrador," Osborne said.
Gordon Piercey, president of the AAHP, also extended his gratitude to the government for including them in helping to develop the new measures amid the challenges faced by the healthcare sector.
"We all know that there are pervasive shortages across most health care professionals, here and across the country. This critical challenge is not going away anytime soon unless we take action now with holistic and creative strategies to both keep the health care professionals already in our system and to compete and attract new health professionals from outside the province," he said.
Meanwhile, CUPE president Sherry Hillier said they have more proposals that the government can adopt to attract and keep workers in the healthcare system.
"We look forward to continuing to work with government next month, as we begin collective agreement negotiations for health care and other provincial workers," Hillier said.
In October, the Newfoundland and Labrador government also announced similar incentives to attract and retain nurses amid hundreds of job vacancies in the workforce.
These measures come as other provinces and territories also begin rolling out their own measures to address workforce challenges. In the Northwest Territories, the government introduced an incentivized referral program, among other measures, after its healthcare facilities faced several closures and limited operations due to staffing problems.
In Nunavut, the government rolled out a "Bring a Friend of Family Member" incentive for nurses ahead of the holiday season. In Saskatchewan, its government announced a new one-time incentive between $30,000 to $50,000 for healthcare workers.
