Blanche River Health Takes Recruitment on the Road

Recruiting professionals in a tight labour market is an issue faced throughout the health care system, and Blanche River Health’s human resources (HR) team has been rising to the challenge, travelling throughout the province to attend career fairs. 

“We attended eight career fairs last year, and we already have five lined-up for 2024,” said Debra Schenk, Manager, Human Resources at Blanche River Health. “In the past week, we travelled to Queen’s University and Laurentian University, and look forward to meeting future health care professionals at McMaster University, Collège Boréal and Northern College next month.” 

The HR team attends the fairs to both connect with prospective employees and to market Blanche River Health as a great employer. 

“Attracting new employees to the North can be especially challenging because of our climate, size and the need to relocate, so it’s important to get out to the future workforce, network with other employers, assess the market, and dispel myths about life in small town northern Ontario,” said Lisa Poeta, the Human Resources Generalist at Blanche River Health who attended a career fair at Laurentian University on January 30.  Meanwhile. Meanwhile, Jessica Parkman, Human Resources Generalist, was at Queen’s University on February 3.

Positions that are particularly challenging to fill include: Pharmacists, Physiotherapists, Diagnostic Imaging Technologists, Electricians, Respiratory Therapists, and Registered Nurses with critical care training. 

To help foster interest in the health sciences, Blanche River Health plans to expand its student program through summer student job placements and co-op placements.

The hospital has also partnered with the Northern Ontario School of Medicine to provide clinical summer student opportunities for post-secondary students in the fields of Diagnostic Imaging, Nutrition, Physiotherapy, Respiratory Therapy, Pharmacy, Laboratory Technology, Nursing and Medicine. Applications are open. For more information on how to apply, visit www.nosm.ca.

Blanche River Health is a 74-bed hospital corporation with two sites serving the North Eastern Ontario communities of Englehart (26 beds) and Kirkland Lake (48 beds) as well as residents in surrounding areas.

Caption:  Lisa Poeta, Human Resources Generalist at Blanche River Health at a career fair at Laurentian University on January 30.