PMH to welcome 64 new health workers

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/06/2023 (996 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Westman’s Prairie Mountain Health (PMH) region will receive 64 new health-care workers from the Philippines, which is the result of a recent government recruiting mission overseas.

More than 300 internationally educated health-care workers have accepted job offers to work in Manitoba, after being interviewed and put through a screening process during the province’s five-day trip to three cities in the Philippines in February.

During the pre-screening process, preference was given to those who already met English-language requirements, as well as a bachelor of nursing degree, and minimum of two years work experience in acute or elder care.

Shortly after the delegation returned to Manitoba, Shared Health sent 348 letters of intent, offering jobs to more than 150 registered nurses, 77 licensed practical nurse equivalents and 110 health-care aides and in return, received a total of 309 acceptance letters.

The response was overwhelmingly positive, Health Minister Audrey Gordon said during the announcement, which took place in Winnipeg on Tuesday.

“It is so gratifying to see such a high acceptance rate, but it’s also humbling to know these health professionals will be making incredible contributions to our health system and to Manitobans for years to come,” Gordon said.

The incoming workers are expected to take jobs in 31 different Manitoba communities, including Brandon, Dauphin, Gladstone, Hamiota, Hartney, Minnedosa, Neepawa, Russell, Swan River and Virden.

Two representatives from PMH were part of the recruiting mission, and according to PMH CEO Brian Schoonbaert, the health region is pleased and excited that job offers have been made to potential candidates.

“As active participants in the nursing recruitment mission to the Philippines, we’ve continued our efforts to ensure that those who accept employment in our region receive the supports and mentorship they need to succeed once they arrive and start working in their field,” said Schoonbaert.

Before Shared Health embarked on the recruiting mission, it launched its referral program, encouraging Manitobans to reach out to family and friends in the Philippines who might have been interested in living and working as a nurse in the province.

The program received thousands of hits from the Philippines, according to Monika Warren, chief nursing officer for Shared Health, and while speaking to candidates she said that “anecdotally,” about half of them knew someone in Manitoba.

“From speaking to some nurses, they were saying ‘my cousin or my friend, or my sister would like to come,’ and so we know that connection with our Filipino community here, and back to the Philippines, really helped make our mission in February successful.”

Searching for nurses in the Philippines is not a new initiative for the Manitoba government. The province has been actively recruiting nurses from there for 15 years, with the first initiative announced in 2008 under the NDP government.

In March, one month after the Manitoba government’s recruiting mission, a Filipino news service, The Philippines News Agency, published an article quoting President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., addressing the shortage of nurses due to migration.

“We have to be clever about the health-care manpower. Our nurses are the best, and we are up against the rest of the world,” Marcos said.

The entire mission and the success unfolded with the approvals of the Philippine government, a Shared Health spokesperson told the Sun.

Everything from obtaining permits, venues, marketing before, during and after the mission was “working in partnership with local recruitment agencies, all government approvals during the mission, the actual interview processes, and the engagement work,” the Shared Health spokesperson said.

Besides the 64 Filipino health-care workers designated for PMH, Shared Health provided the breakdown of the other health regions in the province that will receive the newcomers, including 116 to the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority facilities and Health Sciences Centre, 44 to Southern Health, 48 to the Interlake-Eastern Health Region and 37 to Northern Health.

Candidates who have accepted the job offers will now go through the immigration and licensing processes, said Labour and Immigration Minister Jon Reyes, who was at the service agreement signing between the University of Manitoba and the World Citi Colleges in the Philippines.

“This partnership will allow internationally educated nurses in the Philippines to complete required clinical competency assessment before they arrive in Manitoba making their process more streamlined and efficient and predictable,” Reyes said alongside Gordon during Tuesday’s announcement.

The Filipino health-care workers are expected to begin arriving in Manitoba as early as late this summer, with arrivals increasing in fall.

» mmcdougall@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @enviromichele