The good news still managed to dominate the staffing situation at the Sun Country Health Region during the past two months, but continuing to completely fill all 2,300 employment positions remains a fluid situation in this corner of the province.
In a staffing report filed with the Sun Country board of directors last week, it was noted that two registered nurses were hired while six RNs tendered resignations. This reversed a previous trend noted in summer and fall reports that showed more nursing hires than departures.
One dietitian and two out-of-scope positions were filled in a period that stretched from mid-October to mid-November, but at the same time the region lost three licensed practical nurses and one speech language pathologist.
On the brighter side, the report stated that five medical students are currently studying with financial assistance provided by Sun Country with the expectation that they will assume practice in the region upon graduation.
There was also a newly created administrative position that was filled within the past couple of months when Chris McKee was appointed executive director of the new Kaizen Promotion Office, which will be responsible for designing, planning and deploying the Lean (efficiency) system throughout the region. The Lean program enables groups to reorganize operations and empowers staff to generate new methods to eliminate waste and refocus on patient care.
On another front, CEO Marga Cugnet said the health region may be close to hiring a vice-president of finance and corporate services, a position currently being filled on an interim basis by Pamela Haupstein. Cugnet noted that interviews had been conducted with candidates on the short list.
Sun Country has awarded 39 bursaries since April of this year, with 25 of those being for people enrolled in training to become registered nurses, another one in a registered psychiatric nurse program and one in a nurse practitioner program. There is also one student in an occupational therapy training program and four more in medicine, one in emergency medical technician training and one primary care paramedic along with five emergency medical responders.
In comparison, there had been 55 bursaries awarded in the previous year.
The health region stated that they are continuing to offer clinical placements for students, primarily those in nursing programs, which is viewed as a significant recruitment opportunity since students are more likely to return to work in a region they have become familiar with. The six registered nursing students were, until just recently, found at St. Joseph's Hospital in Estevan ( three) and Weyburn General Hospital (two) and one in palliative care in Weyburn. They have now returned to classroom work. The report added that there is also one nurse practitioner in training in Carlyle.
On another front, Sun Country noted that it has become increasingly difficult to fill cook positions within the health region, as it has across the province. The shortage appears to exist across the entire region and administration is examining the issue and might be in the position to offer financial assistance to employees who want to take some necessary cooking education classes to become qualified to fill the roles.
A pay for performance plan, a new province-wide system to ensure accountability from executive teams, has been implemented in Sun Country following the passing of a motion of support by the board of directors on Nov. 28. The program ties some of the leadership salaries to improvements made in efficiency projects as reported weekly during progress "wall walks." The progress, or lack thereof, can affect up to 10 per cent of executive salaries, meaning that in certain areas, an executive member could receive as little as 90 per cent of contracted salary or as much as 110 per cent, according to results.
The board members will meet again for an open business session on Jan. 30.
