$25k incentive helps London-area hospitals land 52 new nurses

Money talks.

Amid Ontario’s nursing shortage, hospitals in some under-served London-area communities are reaping the benefits of provincial grants for new nurses willing to stay put, bringing in at least 52 recruits since the program launched last year.

St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital, Chatham-Kent Health Alliance and Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance have brought in a total of 52 nurses under the program offering eligible nursing staff $25,000 to serve at least two years in a designated community.

The St. Thomas hospital, which has recruited 17 nurses through the program to date, has requested funding for five more spots, a spokesperson said Thursday.

The Huron Perth alliance, with hospitals in Clinton, Seaforth, St. Marys and Stratford, has brought in 16 nurses under the program, has grants for four others and may seek more, chief nursing executive Lynanne Mason said.

“It’s been a really positive initiative to draw new grads to come and work for us full time,” she said.

The alliance also has boosted clinical student positions from six to 36 in a bid to attract not-yet graduated nurses weighing their options, Mason said.

“They work alongside nurses and can get exposure to all different departments and see what they want to look at when they graduate,” she said. “It’s been a big push for us, trying to get in there early and make it a great experience for them and hopefully make them want to work with us when they graduate.”

Chatham-Kent Health Alliance has brought in 19 nurses through the provincial grant program, one prong in its ongoing effort to bolster its nursing ranks.

“We are holding pre-emptive information sessions with fourth-year nursing students completing placements to discuss employment at CKHA,” the hospital said, setting up interviews in advance for positions that will be available when their schooling is complete.

Weeks ago, nearly 200 people came to the Chatham-Kent hospital’s in-person job fair, it’s first since the pandemic began. The hospital had 67 nursing openings posted on its website Thursday.

Ontario launched the Community Commitment Program for Nurses last spring, aiming to help select hospitals address shortages of registered nurses, registered practical nurses and nurse practitioners.

It’s also open to long-term care homes, home and community care agencies, primary care and mental health and addiction services in target communities.

To receive $25,000 grants, nurses can’t have worked as a nurse in Ontario in the six months before being hired. To be eligible, nurses must be in good standing with the College of Nurses of Ontario, commit to two years of full-time work with an eligible employer and not receive other Health Ministry tuition support funds.

In about 10 months, Windsor Regional has signed up more than 200 nurses under the program. It was so successful, the hospital won another another 100 potential grants from the province.

“It has been hugely successful,” Windsor Regional Hospital chief executive David Musyj told Postmedia. “It definitely helps, especially . . . being a border city, to be able to compete financially with the United States.”

The pandemic has placed added strain on health human resources at hospitals provincewide, pushing some health-care workers to retire or quit the profession and increasing overtime hours for remaining workers.

The province has launched a series of strategies to increase supply of nurses and personal support workers, including measures targeting pay, training and regulatory or accreditation barriers.

One program, Ontario’s learn and stay grants, covers tuition and books for students entering select health-care programs if they practice in their underserved community for at least two years after graduating.

Practical nursing students at Fanshawe and Lambton colleges and bachelor of nursing students at Western University, Fanshawe and Lambton are eligible.

But even with such efforts, Ontario is on track for a shortfall of about 33,000 nurses and personal support workers by 2028, the province’s fiscal watchdog reported last month

With files by Dave Waddell, Postmedia

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