Orillia Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital (OSMH) is looking to fill dozens of nursing positions.
As of Wednesday, there were 66 openings.
“It’s definitely on the high end,” said chief nursing executive Jill Colin, who noted the hospital typically has between 30 and 60 openings.
“It’s not an unusual number.”
The need for nurses isn’t unique to OSMH, which has seen nurses pick up additional shifts and work in different units to fill any gaps — something that also happened prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the pandemic has created additional strains.
“It’s been a very long 18 months for everyone in health care, and we are no exception here at Soldiers’,” Colin said. “You do have to be a little bit more on top of things.”
OSMH is in a good position to hire nurses for a number of reasons, she said. This area can be attractive to new grads because there are opportunities for some student loan forgiveness for working here.
The hospital also partners with a few post-secondary institutions, with agreements in place to accommodate students.
It has made some changes to recruitment practices during the pandemic, including holding many interviews in a day. Last Saturday, OSMH conducted 23 job interviews — mostly for nurses — and hired 13 people that day, pending reference checks.
“That likely will continue because it’s very effective,” Colin said.
The hospital also created a simulation lab, which helps with recruitment efforts. The lab provides a “real-life learning environment,” which is particularly helpful for new grads who weren’t able to spend much time in hospitals for their placements because of the pandemic.
Colin said OSMH wasn’t surprised by the number of nurses needed. Some of the vacancies are because of pending retirements. Others are needed to help manage the demand now that more surgeries are resuming.
“We are experiencing quite a bit of growth here at Soldiers’ and with some of our programming,” Colin said, noting the hospital received funding for additional surgery and intensive care unit beds.
Hospitals everywhere are feeling the pressures of nursing shortages, and some have been forced to close certain programs. That is not the case at OSMH, Colin said.
Nurses account for about half of the approximately 1,400 employees at OSMH.
