British Columbia has announced new grants to hire and train more nurses and midwives to ease pressure on a strained health system.
Premier David Iby said the new measures will support Canadian-trained nurses who want to return to the workforce, as well as internationally trained nurses who want to practice in British Columbia
“There are highly qualified and experienced nurses who want to enter our system now, but are facing barriers that prevent them from providing the services British Columbians need,” Eby said during a press conference at Langara College in Vancouver on Monday.
For nurses trained in Canada, the government will offer financial support of up to $4,000 to cover applications, assessments and eligible travel expenses for current nurses to re-enter the system. In addition, there will be up to $10,000 in scholarships for any additional education they may need to get back to work.
For foreign-trained nurses, Eby said the province plans to spend $1.3 million to streamline the licensing process.
According to him, the aim is to reduce the wait for registration from the current three years to between four and nine months.
“We know that the journey to securing a career in the health profession can be more challenging for those new to our country,” said Cynthia Johansen, chief executive of the British College of Nursing and Midwives.
“We want to help applicants get registered in the right nursing role as quickly as possible … and without compromising public safety,” she added, describing the current three-year wait for international nurses as “unacceptable”.
The province made a similar announcement in November about support for doctors.
At the time, Eby said the government planned to triple the number of places on the Practice Readiness Assessment Program by March 2024.
The program allows internationally educated family physicians to obtain a license to practice in British Columbia, placing them in rural and urban communities in need of more physicians and requiring them to work in that location for at least three years.
Emergency operations centers are reopening
Last week, Health Minister Adrian Dix said demand for hospital care in British Columbia is growing. More than 10,000 people were in emergency care across the province as of Thursday, a six percent increase from New Year’s Eve.
On Monday, the province reactivated 20 hospital emergency operations centers previously set up for COVID-19 to manage an expected surge in cases of flu, RSV and the novel coronavirus.
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