Labour Mobility Deal Might Hurt Northern Health

Labour Mobility Deal Might Hurt Northern Health

Tuesday, December 09, 2008 at 14:53

 

 

It could soon be harder to recruit doctors to rural and remote areas of Saskatchewan.

 

That warning has been sounded by a spokesman for the Saskatchewan College of Physicians and Surgeons.

 

Bryan Salte, the associate registrar of the college, says the problem stems from a new labour agreement signed by all the provinces.

 

It allows workers who are certified in one province to have that certification recognized in all other provinces.

 

Until now, in order to practice here, foreign-trained doctors had to sign an agreement to work in rural Saskatchewan for three years.

 

But Salte says that may be out the window now.

 

The agreement takes effect April 1st, 2009.

 

Salte says the issue is huge in Saskatchewan because this province has a higher percentage of foreign-trained doctors than other provinces.

 

However, Salte believes getting doctors into places like Stony Rapids won’t likely be a problem.

 

He says doctors seem to like working in the province’s far north because they fly in and fly out for two-week periods.

 

Salte says they also get lots of help in areas like training and educational upgrading.