The number of vacant positions at the Dauphin Regional Health Centre has taken somewhat of a dramatic spike over the past two years.
Two years ago, the vacancy for nurses was at about 20 percent. Today, the vacancy is at about 33 percent. During the same period, the vacancy for healthcare aides has gone from 20 percent to 33 percent.
Brian Schoonbaert, CEO of Prairie Mountain Health says this is a concern and that they, at times, have had to limit the number of beds they use for patients.
"We have had issues in Dauphin recruiting and really throughout the PMH region," said Schoonbaert. "With that said, we also know Winnipeg is having the same problem with a vacancy rate of about 20 percent."
The province is taking a proactive approach to try and improve the numbers by adding hundreds of seats to nursing courses in the province. This means that if you have an interest in becoming a nurse or health care aide, now could be a good time to get more information about it.
The second-largest facility in the PMH region, Schoonbaert says Dauphin has had many nurses and health care aides working overtime and they also use agency workers because it's needed at times to provide the best possible care for patients. He also says Dauphin has a very stable physician workforce.
"We expect these numbers to improve over the next couple of months, there's no doubt about that," said Schoonbaert. "We must do everything we can to make sure that all the services that need to be delivered can be delivered."
Brian also says communities should be doing a better job of attracting local workers. In Dauphin at Assiniboine Community College, practical nursing is a course that is offered. A comprehensive health care aide course is also offered.
