Lyonel Doherty, Times Chronicle
While the province is making it easier for internationally-educated nurses to work in BC, the mayor of Oliver is perplexed why the town is being left out of an incentive program for healthcare professionals.
Martin Johansen said the municipality has been arbitrarily removed from the list of “loan forgiveness” towns that provide incentives for nurses to practise in various communities.
The mayor said Oliver was previously part of the program that basically covers the cost of nurses’ training and education.
The loan forgiveness program is a BC student aid initiative for eligible occupations such as nursing, physician, and occupational therapist, among others.
Those who qualify will have their outstanding BC portion of their student loan debt forgiven at a rate of 20 per cent per year (up to five years) for a minimum 400 hours of service annually.
“Underserved” communities eligible for the program include towns like Princeton and Grand Forks, but not Oliver, Osoyoos or Keremeos.
Interior Health told the Times Chronicle that Oliver and Osoyoos are instead provided a rural retention grant (up to $10,000 for registered nurses who make an employment commitment to these towns. In addition, there is also “relocation assistance” for a three-year return of service to the community.
Boundary-Similkameen MLA Roly Russell said the program does a lot of good attracting healthcare professionals to underserved communities. He noted the program uses specific criteria to determine which communities get on the list, such as size, number of existing practitioners, and distance to a medical facility. He surmises that Oliver does not score as high as other underserved communities when it comes to loan forgiveness eligibility.
Russell said MLAs are not in a position to advocate which communities make the list, but he can (and will) advocate to expand the list of eligible communities.
Russell said the formidable challenge is dealing with the underlying problem – the shortage of healthcare professionals.
The MLA said you have to ensure that you aren’t migrating the problem from one community to the next.
“We don’t want to get into the habit of competing incentives,” Russell said.
But according to Johansen, this is exactly what’s happening.
Osoyoos Mayor Sue McKortoff said she spoke to Interior Health about the issue and wanted to speak to Russell for further clarification.
The Ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills told the Times Chronicle the program is designed to encourage healthcare professionals to work in underserved communities.
In consultation with the Ministry of Health, StudentAid BC uses criteria to define eligible underserved communities. These are communities where access to physician services is limited.
The ministry said neither Osoyoos nor Oliver have been on the list since 2015. Prior to 2015, the agreement list was not in use and at that time Oliver and Osoyoos were identified as eligible communities.
