Health Ministry to host career expo to recruit more healthcare workers

By Kimone Witter    

 

As the health sector continues to grapple with a shortage of workers, the Ministry of Health will be undertaking a recruitment drive.

 

The ministry will host a career expo and employment fair next Wednesday and Thursday at the University of the West Indies, Mona to boost the cadre of professionals across the sector.

 

Health Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton says the shortage of health professionals is due to inadequate training in specialised areas, migration and more of the population becoming ill with non-communicable diseases. 

 

"Coming through compensation review, we have put in place a lot more posts and the challenge is to put people in those posts. So we're having this expo to put on display about 20-plus career paths in health care. Not just about doctors and nurses, but the type of doctors and nurses - there are many different types - biotech engineers, pharmacists, labs."

 

"We are also exposing the opportunities for study, scholarships - the Barry Wint Scholarship - and we are encouraging the schools and anyone else to come in. Plus, we have nearly 800 posts that are to be filled and we are doing interviews on spot for persons who may think they are qualified. We're going to be publishing those posts this weekend," the minister revealed. 

 

Dr. Tufton said the government has put measures in place to retain workers, although it is unlikely they will alll remain in the island. 

 

"The idea is always going to be retention of some, knowing that some will go, which is why we have done compensation review, which is why we are upgrading our hospitals to create better working conditions and trying to incentivise retention," he said. 

 

But the minister pointed out that if the gaps cannot be filled locally, the ministry will have to look overseas for labour. 

 

"We do that now with Cuba. Cuba has been an amazing partner. We have nearly 400 Cubans working in our health system."  

 

He said the government is also looking to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Philippines, whose minister of health will be a special guest at the career expo. 

 

Dr. Tufton was speaking Friday on TVJ's Smile Jamaica.