Windsor Regional Hospital has now recruited 35 new nurses thanks to a financial incentive program offered as part of a Ministry of Health program.
The hospital has committed over $750,000 under the program launched in May 2021, which allows eligible hospitals in Ontario to offer government-supported financial incentives to recruit nurses to address staffing issues.
The incentives include signing bonuses ranging between $10,000 and $75,000, depending on qualifications and where they're being recruited from.
The recruitment drive has been focused on attracting nurses to work in several key areas of the hospital including Critical Care, Medical/Surgical and in Post-Anaesthesia Care Units at the two other campuses.
Karen Riddell, Chief Nursing Executive at Windsor Regional Hospital, explained the need for incentives by citing a Canadian Institute for Health Information study published in 2020. It showed that between 2015 and 2020, five per cent of Ontario healthcare graduates left for other jurisdictions in Canada or in other countries.
"You only need to do a quick scan of the internet, just Google sign on bonuses and you'll see that there is multiple hospitals just across our border offering sign on bonuses," she says. "That has been a challenge for us locally for many, many years."
Riddell adds there are indications the provincial funding may end at the end of this fiscal year, but they are hoping it will be expanded into 2023.
Critical care nurses from out of province or out of country, including Canadians working in the U.S., are eligible for up to a $75,000 in signing bonuses as part of the program.
Registered nurses working out of province or out of country, including Canadians working in the U.S., are eligible for up to $25,000 in signing bonuses if they join in general practice nursing.
Retired and currently unemployed nurses in Ontario are eligible for up an up to $25,000 signing bonus for critical care nursing and $10,000 for general nursing.