Province introduces new Sask. Health Recruitment Agency CEO

Saskatchewan Health Minister Paul Merriman introduced the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Saskatchewan Health Recruitment Agency to the media on Thursday.

Erin Brady will begin her new role on May 23.

Brady will play a key role in recruiting health officials from different parts of Canada and the world to come work in Saskatchewan, Merriman said.

“It’s an honour to have her, she has a great history working with the Health Quality Council as well as saskdocs,” Merriman said before Brady spoke with reporters herself.

Brady said she is looking forward to getting out and about and speaking with both partners and communities around the province.

“The shortage in the healthcare workforce is a global issue, so that’s definitely one of the challenges and I know how important it is that we fill some of those gaps so that the system can continue to deliver quality care,” Brady said.

Brady said she feels the lifestyle people can have in Saskatchewan will be something they can advertise to help recruit more healthcare workers to come to the province.

“I think it’s really the lifestyle you can have in Saskatchewan, there’s a range of employment opportunities for spouses and a really high quality of living for the practitioners and their families,” Brady said.

Brady said their first priority will be retaining more local graduates into medical practices around Saskatchewan followed by recruitment from abroad.

“Definitely ethical recruitment is something that we need to consider and we need to make sure that we’re working with countries in a good way,” Brady said.

Brady also recognized that retaining healthcare workers will be a big focus for her as well.

“We will be working on retention as well and settling a [new] family is so important and integrating them into the community and making sure that practitioners can find joy in their work are factors that we know will influence retention,” Brady said.

Brady added that community partners and employers will play key roles into successful retention.

Last September, the province announced a four point plan aimed at recruiting, retaining and incentivizing healthcare workers to make their careers in Saskatchewan.

In April, the province said that it had extended 236 conditional offers to Filipino nurses to come work in Saskatchewan following a recruitment mission in March.

• 236 Filipino nurses receive conditional offers to join Sask. health care system, province says

According to the province, the SHRA was established in 2022 as an independent Treasury Board Crown Corporation.

"The SHRA is responsible for recruiting doctors, nurses and other priority health care professionals from within Saskatchewan, across North America and overseas," the province said in a news release.