The biggest problem facing Health PEI is staffing, says the CEO of the organization.
Endowment was one of the many topics of discussion at Health PEI’s 11th Annual General Meeting. Wednesday in Summerside.
CEO Dr Michael Gardam said it wasn’t just about hiring doctors and nurses, but also staff who could support them and facilitate their work.
“The biggest challenge would be recruiting staff, and that’s both, you know, hiring people to fill positions, but it’s also – and that’s the point I really made. standing up at the meeting – it’s also about supporting our staff to feel valued, ”he said. .
He said there are about 700 vacancies, some full time and some part time. Gardam hopes to do a better job maintaining the staff. UPEI’s recent partnership with Memorial University to allow people to pursue medical education is a good step forward, but if they can’t be hired quickly, Gardam said, they could go elsewhere. .
“I’m not responsible for hiring staff – this is done by the Department of Health and Wellness – but I’m responsible for keeping them. And so I see a lot of my role over the next few years feeling listened to, valued and supported in the workplace. “
The way hiring works is that Health PEI. identifies a need. The need is expressed to the Ministry of Health, which would bring back the names of potential candidates. Health PEI then decides if the person is suitable.
Gardam said he was not asking to change how the system works, but said it needs to work faster.
The money is there to hire people; it’s about attracting the good, says Gardam.
Demoralizing stories
Another issue highlighted by Gardam concerned communication, both within the organization and with the public.
When he came to work with Santé Î.-P.-É. in April, he said he was surprised that there was no intranet or that the website’s internal staff could communicate and see things like announcements and policies.
“We have to have the right team around for these things to happen and at the moment we don’t have enough people to do it,” he said.
“A lot of wonderful things… happen to Health PEI, but you never hear about them.
People often hear problems with Health PEI. raised in the Legislature, Gardam said.
“These are the stories that come up, and it’s honestly demoralizing for people,” he said.
“It’s very important that we have a strong communications team that can get these stories out so people hear all the different things that we do.”
Stuck in the 1980s
The province needs to innovate in its health care delivery, Gadman said, and has already fallen behind in some areas.
The province has the lowest budget for home care in Canada.
“We’re kind of stuck in the 1980s. We’re very focused on hospitals, we’re very focused on a doctor-centric model,” he said.
“We need to stop thinking that everyone needs a hospital bed, that everyone needs long term care. We need to focus on caring for people at home.”
Virtual meetings have helped to increase access to some health services. According to Health PEI’s annual report, the wait time to see a psychiatrist has been reduced from approximately 57 days to 15 days.
“I have commented on programs like Skip the Waiting Room which allows people to reserve their COVID vaccines. We could use it for your CT scan,” he said.
One of these innovations is the work of deploying an electronic health records network across the province.
“There are millions of reasons why paper records are bad. I can hand this over to the wrong person, I can leave this around. There is no doubt that electronic health records are the way of the world. future, ”he said.
Gardam has likened his work in the past to a mole game. He said the moles are still stricken, but he hopes Health PEI. will be able to find longer term solutions to the problems over the next year.
“Coffeeaholic. Lifelong alcohol fanatic. Typical travel expert. Prone to fits of apathy. Internet trailblazer.”