By Adam Berls

nurse retention

Prince George excluded from nurse retention incentive

Sep 6, 2024 | 2:38 PM

PRINCE GEORGE — Prince George has been excluded from the Ministry of Health’s current retention plan which helps incentivize nurses to stay in the North.

Raelene Stevenson, lobby coordinator for the North East region of the BC Nurses Union’, wrote a letter to City Council asking for support for nurses working in Prince George that have been excluded from the Ministry of Health’s current retention plan, known as the Provincial Rural Retention Incentive. The Government of BC recently expanded the Incentive, but Prince George did not make the cut. The incentive bonus is roughly $8,000 per year.

“We are excited to have any of the new nurses coming here, whether they’re brand new graduates or coming from across the country. We do need to retain the nurses that have been here for a long time and are there to help educate and move along with these new nurses as well.” – Raelene Stevenson, Lobby Coordinator, North East Region, BCNU

Prince George was left off the list for the incentive as it was deemed “neither remote, nor rural”, despite the fact that UHNBC emergency department is upwards of a 50% vacancy rate in staffing levels. UHNBC is also the only non-refusal site in Northern B.C., and when rural facilities have to close or divert, patients do get sent to Prince George, and UHNBC can become overwhelmed quickly.

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Stevenson says that the level of vacancies “greatly impacts” nurses abilities to provide medical services to the community and the ability to retain other medical professionals wanting to live and work in Prince George.

A petition has been launched to include Prince George nurses in the retention bonus. It has over 1,000 signatures and can be found HERE.

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X: @AdamBerls

Email: Adam.Berls@pattisonmedia.com