Five Hills gets grant for staff retention

When nurse managers at Providence Place return from vacation, they face a pile of paper work, some delayed decisions and days of work to catch up.
There was no money in the budget for a manager's relief staff, although there is funding for nursing staff relief.
"(Delays) actually could have put care at risk," said Providence Place chief executive officer Rick Schindel. "Continuity is important. We need that support."
A $75,000 grant over two years from the province will help to hire a nursing co-ordinator and resolve the situation.
"(Work) piled up until they came back," said director of care Faith Case. "We've had this mentioned to us several times (by employees)."
The funding will also be used to offer staff training, particularly for employees unable to attend regular sessions because of shift work.
This grant and $164,415 to Five Hills Health Region announced Wednesday are part of $6 million from the province for employee retention and innovative care improvements.
The local programs were selected from a range of proposals by staff, said Five Hills Health Region chief executive officer Dan Florizone.
"This isn't just about attracting people, but making sure once they come to work that their work environment is a positive place."
The Five Hills funds will be used for training mental health addictions staff in Southern Saskatchewan. Staff from the Regina-Qu'Appelle, Sunrise, Sun Country, Cypress and Five Hills regions will be trained in cognitive based therapy.
Commonly used now, the therapy is recognized as the best treatment and has measurable outcomes, said Mary Lee Booth, director of child and youth services for mental health and addictions.
Training is a critical component to provide treatment, she said.
"This retention proposal recognizes the value of workers and offers them specialized training to enhance their skills . . . The workers who believe they are valued in their work place tend to stay," she said.
The training will come in two phases with 182 clinicians taking five two-day training courses and 70 taking advanced practical training that leads to certificate status.
Many of the clinicians have some training in the therapy but use is not consistent throughout the regions, Booth said.
Moose Jaw North MLA Warren Michelson said the funding across the province includes housing incentives and location incentives.
"For this government and for me health care is at the (top of the) agenda."
The province has promised more funds for recruitment and retention. Florizone already has some ideas on what he'd like to see.
"I'd really want to make sure we key in on the front line staff" by providing them time to reflect on their work and how it is done.
In a work environment with 24- hour-a-day operation and three shifts, time to reflect is unavailable.
"Our day never ends. It's not like 5 p.m. comes and we can sit down and say how could we have done better?"
Finding out what matters most to staff is important as the CEO is removed further from day-to-day activities, Florizone said.

Ron Walter can be reached at 691-1264.