Picture via Lanark County website
At the direction of council, Lanark County staff have begun looking into the process of hiring internationally educated healthcare workers to fill in the gaps at Lanark Lodge.
Executive Director Carey Duncan approached council with the request, saying their current state of staff working overtime and bringing in contracted staff is not sustainable.
Should council go this route, Duncan says it will be costly, but provide much-needed stability.
Duncan puts the price tag of the process at $120,000 for the recruitment and retention of about 15 RNs and RPNs, which she says should slide into next year’s budget without going over.
She said there’s 15 to 17 shift vacancies at the Lodge on any given day.
The real cost would be the housing of these workers and families, which the county would be responsible for.
Right now, they wouldn’t have an immediate solution as to where to put them, so Duncan pitched a few options.
The rental of the Alzheimer Society space would cost around $200,000, which they could pull from reserves.
Staff will present an updated report to next month’s Community Services Committee meeting.
Story by Grant Deme
