Saskatoon Health Region welcomes Philippine nurses

(August 19, 2008) Saskatoon – Saskatoon Health Region welcomes thirteen new internationally-recruited nurses today. The nurses, hired by the Region as part of the provincial recruitment mission to the Philippines earlier this year, arrived in Saskatoon this week to begin a new chapter in their professional career. The recruits are part of the first wave of registered nurses from the Philippines arriving in the Region. The remaining nurses will arrive at different intervals over the next six to seven months.

“This is truly an exciting day for us all since many of us in the region have been anxiously waiting to meet and greet our new colleagues arriving from the Philippines,” said Bonnie Blakley, Vice President, People Strategies. “It’s exciting as well for the new nurses who have made many sacrifices and traveled all this way to start a new career and a new life here in Saskatchewan.”

Saskatoon Health Region participated in a very successful province-wide recruitment trip to the Philippines in February 2008. Focusing on ethical recruitment practices developed by the region prior to arriving in the Philippines, the region conducted hundreds of interviews and made job offers to 105 registered nurses from the Philippines to begin work in the Region. All of the new recruits went through very rigorous and intense testing prior to the interviews. After a successful interview they were offered positions.

“We wanted to ensure that at the end of this process, we had the best possible candidates and I think we accomplished that,” said Blakley.

While recruitment of these new nurses helps address the workforce challenges the Region faces, it represents only one piece of a four-part recruitment strategy. The Region continues to recruit local nursing students, the First Nations and Métis workforce and candidates from other Canadian provinces.

For more information on Saskatoon Health Region’s recruitment strategy or on starting a new career with the region please visit www.saskatoonhealthcareers.ca.

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For more information contact:

Saskatoon Health Region

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