There are many challenges facing the health care system, but widespread staffing shortages are likely the biggest priority.
The continuing need for both retention and recruitment came up as a key topic at the annual meeting of Southern Health-Santé Sud held online last Wednesday.
“We’re working very hard on our recruitment issues … we are experiencing unprecedented vacancies after COVID,” said chief executive officer Jane Curtis.
She highlighted a number of provincial initiatives such as the recent recruitment campaign to bring health care workers from the Philippines to the province, which attracted interest from over 300 nurses and health care aides.
“We expect about 40 of those health care providers by the end of the year, and our first one will be starting at Lions Prairie Manor [in Portage] sometime in the new year,” Curtis shared. “We also really want to focus on training, increased training in the province. We obviously want to grow our own, and I think there’s lots of opportunity to do so.
“One thing that makes it a lot easier for residents in Southern Health is they can take training courses within our region,” added Curtis, noting LPN programs are happening in a number of locations, including Morden, and the province has added 400 additional nursing seats overall.
“We’re looking at our future workforce and trying to build that capacity,” she said. “Our number of nursing students has grown from around 35 last year to over 160 this year, so huge increase in the number of nursing students who are right now in our regions.
“We have to be diligent; we have to always be thinking about other ways of recruiting and training and also retaining our staff.”
Denis Fortier, vice president of medical services and chief medical officer for the RHA, also noted there’s been an increase in education spots for physicians from 110 to 125 this year and to 150 over the next couple of years
“It’s a longterm investment, but that’s still an important event … as well we’ve increased the number of seats for internationally trained physicians from 20 to 25 and to 30 next year.”
“Our recruiters go across Canada to attend job fairs,” he added.
The annual meeting otherwise covered a lot of ground, with both Curtis and board chair Adam Monteith touching on the health authority’s new five-year strategic plan.
Curtis highlighted the addition of purposeful innovation as a new core value.
“Innovation is truly about reimagining. It’s not just about doing things the way we’ve always done them … in many ways, the pandemic forced our hand towards innovation,” she said. “It expanded and elevated our way of thinking to create our new vision of healthier people, healthier community.
“This region has historically had the reputation of finding new ways to make things work,” she said.
“It’s how we transform the vision into action … always keeping in mind our mission of providing safe, accessible and sustainable people centred health care,” added Monteith.
He also highlighted several significant capital projects in the region, including the Boundary Trails Health Centre expansion.
“The first phase of the Boundary Trails Health Centre renovation and expansion project will add new acute care in-patient beds and provide a larger, more modern space for programs.”
As well, there is the new renal dialysis unit at Bethesda Regional Health Centre in Steinbach as well as additional acute beds and medical capacity, while site preparation has been done for the new Portage Regional Health Centre. There is also the new Boyne Lodge personal care facility in Carman and the expansion of the Rest Haven facility in Steinbach.
These kinds of projects are vital to help them meet the increasing needs that come with a significant increase in the region’s population.
“This past year alone our population grew by more than 6,000 people—an amount greater than many of our rural communities,” Monteith noted.
“Of course, this has a substantial impact on our health programs and services. The challenge we face because of the population increases are large factors in our discussions at the board table. We know that opportunities are always embedded in our challenges.”
Curtis added one of those key challenges continues to be addressing wait times and waiting lists. She highlighted the additional capacity added at Boundary Trails Health Centre for an additional 120 hip and knee replacement surgeries.
“We still have backlogs of patients waiting for treatment, and we have volumes of people requiring support for mental illnesses,” she said. “These are real challenges and uncertainties. These are ongoing pressures that we are working on to address in many different ways … our resolute commitment is always to our patients.
“The impact of the global pandemic on wait times has been significant. We continue collaborating with the provincial diagnostic and surgical task force, putting into practice recovery measures to support access to care and to improve wait lists.”
Financially, Southern Health-Santé Sud saw revenue remain stable at about $430 million while expenses increased to $460 million, so it left the health authority with a deficit of approximately $30 million. The accumulated surplus though remains at $59 million.
