The government is raising the stakes to attract nurses to the regions: it announced Thursday that it is increasing its attraction bonuses to $ 30,000 in remote areas.
Quebec also promises to pay an additional amount of $ 12,000, the second year, to healthcare professionals who will help out outside the large centers.
Initially, the attraction bonus for employees in remote areas was $ 18,000. Henceforth, Quebec is therefore increasing it by $ 12,000 for the first year, then adding an amount of $ 12,000 for the following year.
The announcement by Minister of Health Christian Dubé comes as the Coroner’s Office opens an inquest into the death of a man from Senneterre. Richard Genest died on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, after driving 140 kilometers in an ambulance.
“We will have new measures in the regions, particularly in Abitibi, which we are announcing this week. Of course, every day, what I try to do is bring back staff so that services, particularly in the regions, are improved, ”said Mr. Dubé in the morning on Thursday.
In the press release detailing the bonuses, the Minister of Health recalled that his “priority” was to help “reduce the pressure on work teams and rebalance the workload of staff”.
He said he was adjusting to the reality of the regions by granting an additional amount. “All of the announced incentives will cover the most pressing health needs in the most critical sectors or regions,” he said.
Slow progression of reinforcements
In parallel, his ministry made its usual weekly update of reinforcements in the health network.
Since the announcement of thousands of dollars in staff retention and attraction bonuses in September, Quebec has managed to recruit 1,305 people into the network. A total of 128 retired professionals have agreed to return to work and 1,177 resources, particularly from independent workers, have returned to the public network. In addition, there are 3,962 people who worked part-time and have switched to full-time.
Initially, the government hoped to recruit 4000 people in “a very short term”. Quebec gave itself until December 15 to recruit professionals into the network. Last week, Minister Dubé relaxed the conditions associated with bonuses.
The improvement he proposed Thursday targets the health regions of Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Côte-Nord, Gaspésie — Îles-de-la-Madeleine, Nord-du-Québec, Nunavik, Outaouais and Terres-Cries-de-la-Baie-James.