Further incentives to attract medical professionals introduced

REGINA – The provincial government says Saskatchewan's Health Human Resources Action Plan continues to show results in key areas to recruit, train, incentivize and retain more health workers.

Incentives to attract new talent are a key strategy in what Health Minister Everett Hindley calls an “ambitious HHR action plan”.

A perfusionist originally from Calgary has now started work in interventional cardiology and cardiac support services at Regina General Hospital. Perfusionists work alongside cardiac surgeons, anesthesiologists, and other members of the surgical team and are in high demand.

A new retention incentive is now offered for pediatric gastroenterology and pediatric immunology and allergies. This incentive took effect April 1 and totals $200,000 over five years for a return to service in Saskatoon.

This is in addition to several new incentives recently introduced to support the recruitment and retention of high-demand professionals. Incentive packages worth $200,000 over five years are offered for anesthesiology, psychiatry, and breast and interventional radiology.

The call for the Department of Health's Spring 2024-25 Clinical Internship Completion Scholarship is now open to help students prepare for a career in healthcare. The scholarship is offered to students who begin their final clinical placements between April 1st and September 30th. Due to the record number of scholarships approved in 2023-24, strong interest in this incentive is expected again this year.

Additional HHR progress updates

• 252 internationally trained health workers from the Philippines have arrived in Saskatchewan and 179 of them, most of them nurses, are now working in communities across the province.
• Since December 2022, 1,156 nursing graduates from Saskatchewan and beyond have been hired, including 59 since April 1.
• 238 of 250 targeted new and expanded full-time positions in priority occupations to stabilize workforce levels in rural and northern areas have now been filled.
• 303 hard-to-recruit positions were filled through the Rural and Remote Area Recruitment Incentive of up to $50,000 over three years.
• The Rural Physician Incentive of up to $200,000 over five years, offered to physicians practicing in rural and northern communities, received 269 potentially eligible applications and 138 were approved for payment.

For details on health care options, how to access them and more information about the province's HHR action plan, visit saskatchewan.ca/HHR.