Prince Rupert’s local MLA Jennifer Rice held a health forum on Monday night to address staffing shortages and answer resident’s questions.
Two presentations were given by local healthcare professionals, before a question and answer portion was opened for the audience.
Julia Pemberton, the Health Services Administrator for Prince Rupert and Haida Gwaii, gave the first presentation to talk about staff recruitment and retainment.
Pemberton stated that facilities in her area are working with an average of 50 per cent less staff compared to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Though Pemeberton claims that due to the Rural Retention Incentive program that was started in 2021, the number of staff members leaving the job has decreased thanks to housing and various support services being provided.
Tom Soames was next up on the stage. Soames is the District Manager for Clinical Operations for B.C. Emergency Health Services, and addressed the worries around the staffing crisis that emergency health services are also currently facing. Soames says that currently the district is working with 35 percent of the historical numbers of staff.
