Chris Puglia
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Nov 22/02) - Two months late, the GNWT's recruitment and retention strategy is not the cure-all many health-care professionals were hoping.

"Things we were looking for were not addressed," said Craig Lee, an operating room nurse at Stanton Territorial Hospital.

The issues Lee referred to include a separate collective bargaining unit for health-care professionals from other government employees and better wages and benefits.

The strategy released by the GNWT last Friday didn't include any of these provisions.

Retention and recruitment bonuses were deemed ineffective and inequitable.

"They don't seem to be listening to us at all," said Lee.

The report outlines two areas where new money will be added to the budget.

An extra $1 million will be earmarked for professional development and $80,000 for a social work mentorship program. However, Lee said he isn't sure how effective the professional development fund will be. His understanding is that $2,000 will be allocated per staff member for professional development.

"Two-thousand-dollars doesn't get you very far in the world," said Lee.

Nurses want more money

Union of Northern Workers president Todd Parsons said the majority of members do not support the professional development recommendation.

"They (health care professionals) are asking for more money," said Parsons.

However, Parsons said it wasn't a mistake for the government to leave a wage increase out of the recruitment strategy.

"There is a negotiating process that the GNWT can work with to work within the collective agreement," he said.

Lee and Parsons agree the strategy will only be effective in recruiting new grads over experienced staff.

Parsons added, "it's one thing to recruit them, it's another to retain them.

"I don't know it will do a lot to recruit experienced allied health professionals."

Staff with specialized training are required for areas like the Intensive Care Unit, which has been closed due to staff shortages since June.

May create inequity

Suzette Montreuil, UNW local 11 president, said the strategy may create an inequity among current and new employees.

She cited recommendations on remissible bursaries and compensation based on experience as specific examples.

"We still have people here with student loans and they have no options for remissibility of their loans," said Montreuil.

"They have to look at current employees who have been hired.

"They need to look at bringing them up too," said Montreuil.

Work in progress

Health Minister Michael Miltenberger is looking at the recruitment and retention strategy as a starting point for the future.

"This is not a singular event. We started a process and we're definitely going to evaluate as we go," he said.

In terms of the new strategy not being able to attract experienced staff, Miltenberger said they are working on a reclassification system to compensate nurses for specialized training.

"It used to be a nurse, is a nurse, is a nurse.

"If that were the case the ICU would be staffed," he said.