Department of Health Takes Action on Staffing Health System
HEALTH--Department of Health Takes Action on Staffing Health System
The Department of Health announced today, April 5, another step to ensure there will be enough health-care workers to care for Nova Scotians as more workers approach retirement age in the years ahead.
The department has created the position of chief health human resources officer to co-ordinate health human resources planning. Dr. Peter Vaughan begins his new duties in the post today.
"The challenge of staffing the health system across North America will grow significantly in the next decade and Nova Scotians expect government to take action," said Health Minister, Angus MacIsaac. "Our efforts up to now have done well, however, we need a comprehensive and concrete plan to meet our future needs. Peter Vaughan will help us do just that."
Health human resource planning includes strategies around the recruitment and retention of health-care providers, the supply of health-care professionals and the distribution of health-care workers throughout the province and among urban, rural and remote areas.
The 2003 First Ministers' Accord on Health Care Renewal directed health ministers to work on several priority issues, including human resources. Nova Scotia is the first province to establish a leadership position to co-ordinate its planning. As part of his responsibilities, Dr. Vaughan will work with other provincial health departments to develop an Atlantic approach to health human resources.
Dr. Vaughan will build on the work already underway through Nova Scotia's Nursing Strategy, ongoing physician recruitment efforts, the provincial physician resource planning initiative and several other training and recruitment initiatives for other health professionals.
"These efforts have been very good for the province so far. My goal is to bring it to the next level by working with our health- care partners to think creatively about how Nova Scotia will respond to this global problem," said Dr. Vaughan. "Nova Scotia needs to be ready for the challenges ahead, so we must plan carefully, thoughtfully and quickly."
"The Nurses' Union welcomes the hiring of a health human resource officer, someone who can focus on recruiting health-care professionals to rural Nova Scotia, which is a primary concern of the Nurses' Union," said Janet Hazelton, Nova Scotia Nurses' Union president.
The Your Health Matters plan for better health care identified training, recruitment and retention of health-care workers as one of its top five priorities for the Department of Health.
"Over the next few years, we know hundreds of health-care workers will retire in Nova Scotia, yet the health needs of our residents will grow," said Mr. MacIsaac. "We realized that focused senior leadership was required to design, develop and implement a health human resource plan that will meet the long-term needs of our province."
A Study of Health Human Resources in Nova Scotia, 2003, funded by Human Resources Development Canada, in partnership with the Nova Scotia Department of Health and the Health Human Resource Sector Council, will be one of many resources used to guide planning activities.
The study includes profiles of 31 occupations in Nova Scotia's health-care system. It profiled the age distribution of 82 per cent of health workers in the province and found the average age was 41.3 years, with 23 per cent of those sampled at 50 years of age or older. Similar studies were also conducted in the three other Atlantic provinces.
Over the next year, an Atlantic study will assess future regional demands for health and training education programs.
"Recruiting health-care workers is a daily challenge for all district health authorities and we know that pressure will continue to grow," said Bruce Quigley, CEO, Cumberland Health Authority. "We are eager to start working with Dr. Vaughan to develop long-term solutions for health care."
Dr. Vaughan has been president of the Canadian Medical Association. He comes to the Department of Health after two years as director of health services for the Nova Scotia Workers Compensation Board. He has experience with varied health organizations and has had both national and international appointments. He has also worked on several projects that involved implementing changes affecting a number of organizations.
Dr. Vaughan was selected from among several candidates through a competitive process after an extensive national search.