'Recycled positions': Nurses union says Sask. health misleading public about 'new' staff in Saskatoon

Health officials are adding hundreds of permanent healthcare positions in Saskatoon to deal with hospital overcrowding.

On Tuesday, the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) announced plans to hire 285 permanent and 81 temporary healthcare workers.

The new hires are part of an action plan released last month in the wake of a CTV News report that revealed St. Paul’s Hospital failed a fire department inspection because patient beds were lining the hallways and obstructing emergency exits.

The positions will be in both "community and hospital settings" with recruitment underway, according to the SHA.

Of the 285 permanent positions, about 100 full-time equivalents are registered nurses.

While the positions are labelled "new," Saskatchewan Union of Nurses President Tracy Zambory says that's a bit misleading.

"Many of those positions are temporary positions that they've relabeled to permanent positions. So that changes their status and they can put them in a different box," Zambory told CTV News.

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"We're worried about the illusion being created that new things are happening when in fact they are not. It is recycled positions."

Zambory is calling for "full transparency" and breakdown of the positions.

John Ash, SHA vice-president for integrated Saskatoon health, said the positions can be filled internally by local graduates and through recruits from the Philippines.

"Our target is to have all of those positions posted within the first week or two weeks of January," Ash said.

The SHA aims to have the jobs filled in 90 days.

In an effort to free-up more hospital beds and give patients the appropriate level of care, the SHA says it’s looking to add more spaces in long-term care homes.

The provincial health authority said it has released an expression of interest to procure new long-term care capacity.

Ash says there's "a bit of a backlog" for long-term care and convalescent-care beds. He said there are cases where patients are in hospital beds, when they should be in other facilities.

"There are patients that are waiting for long-term care, convalescent-care beds in our hospitals now," he said.

Zambory hopes the new spaces will be in the public sector, instead of private facilities.

"So we can invest into the public system, where it is affordable for everybody."