The CEO at Interior Health says at this point in time, incentives to recruit and retain healthcare professionals at Royal Inland Hospital “should be substantial compared to other areas.”

Susan Brown says they hired 130 staff at RIH last year, bringing the current number of job vacancies down, to just under 300.

“We’re not where we want to be, but we’re at least on the upward trajectory versus downward.”

While an improvement from last year on the staffing front, Brown says there is still a gap, particularly with nurses at Royal Inland.

“Where we have had units that are short of nurses, we’ve tried every attempt to wrap around other disciplines that would help with the work in that unit but allow the nurses to do their work that only nurses can do,” she said.

“Focusing on the nursing right now to provide that core nursing service is a priority for us.”

Additionally, Brown says the health authority has been working with the Ministry of Health to help offer incentives to recruit and retain healthcare workers at RIH.

“We have worked tremendously with the ministry to help them understand the challenges here at Royal Inland and they’ve been incredibly supportive of giving us a suite of tools to incentivize people to stay or to bring them to this community,” she said.

“So when people get offers, they will be able to weigh them against other areas in the province.”

Brown says while showcasing the community also plays a crucial role in helping attract workers, she suggests there are some circumstances where that wouldn’t be enough.

“If they are a student who’s worked in this community, then undoubtedly they will know what the community offers. So then it’s really down to us and what we can offer in incentives maybe for a signing bonus or different things,” she said.

“I would say that Royal Inland’s incentives should be substantial here (at RIH) compared to other areas at this point in time.”

Additionally, Brown says they are currently working to address parking and childcare issues for healthcare professionals at RIH.

“If you are having to park a kilometre away after a 12-hour shift, it’s just another burden; so really focusing in on that parking and we know that there will be some additional parking stalls at the site in March,” she said.

“And we are focusing in on a provider, trying to work out a deal with childcare which would be as close proximity to the hospital as possible.”

Brown says the hope is to continue on the upward trajectory to bolster staffing shortages at RIH.