Saskatchewan Healthcare Recruitment Agency taps new CEO

The Saskatchewan Healthcare Recruitment Agency has recruited a new CEO.

The government announced Thursday that Erin Brady will take charge of the SHRA on May 23. She has worked previously with the Saskatchewan Health Quality Council and saskdocs.

The role of the SHRA — which was created in 2022 as a Treasury Board Crown corporation — is to recruit doctors, nurses and other health-care professionals from within Saskatchewan, across North America and other countries.

The government said the SHRA will accelerate the work being done through the province’s Health Human Resources Action Plan, the goal of which is to add more than 1,000 employees to its health-care system over the next few years.

According to the government, 69 family physicians and 102 specialists have agreed to move to Saskatchewan from outside the province over the past 19 months. As well, the province said 186 graduate nurses have been hired since December of last year and conditional letters of offer have been extended to 129 nurses who are to graduate this spring.

The government also has been actively recruiting health-care workers from the Philippines.

“The Agency will work with partners to create and implement innovative short and long-term strategies and programs that continue to support the recruitment and retention of health professionals in the province,” the government said in a release.

The agency is to work closely with employers like the Saskatchewan Health Authority and Saskatchewan Cancer Agency, and with other stakeholders such as Saskatchewan communities and municipalities.