The Port Hardy Hospital will be down some Florence Nightengales this month. "We do have three nursing positions that will become vacant in Port Hardy in the coming weeks," said Valerie Wilson, manager, Regional Communications, Engagement, Media Relations North and Central Islandwith Island Health. "Two of the nurses are taking nursing positions within Island Health and the third nurse will be taking specialty nurse training at an Island Health site," Wilson said. "I can confirm that one new nursing grad has accepted a regular, full time job offer in Port Hardy, that will fill one of these vacancies," she said. "We don’t yet have a confirmed start date, but it will be within the next several months. We hope that other new nursing grads will apply to the postings on our website," she said.
Island Health is actively recruiting to fill these vacancies and is hopeful that they will be able to fill these positions in the coming weeks. "We do not anticipate any service reductions at Port Hardy Hospital due to the upcoming staff turnover. That said, we have had temporary service reductions at this site and others on occasion, due to unforeseen circumstances, for example unexpected staff illness," said Wilson. Island Health will use the services of agency nurses to temporarily fill the positions until they are filled. "While it doesn’t happen often, we do use agency nurses in communities from time to time, when we are experiencing a temporary nursing shortage," she said. The staffing complement at Port Hardy Hospital is 11 Registered Nurses and two Licensed Practical Nurses. Currently there are 10 RNs on staff – one nursing staff member is currently on temporary leave.