Positions Eligible for $2,000 Referral Bonus at Blanche River HealthPositions Eligible for $2,000 Referral Bonus at Blanche River Health Blanche River Health offers a $2,000 referral bonus for successfully recommending candidates for specific healthcare positions. These positions include: * Diagnostic Imaging Technicians * Nurse Practitioners * Registered Dietitians * Registered Nurses * Pharmacists * Pharmacy Assistants * Physicians * Physical Therapists To qualify for the referral bonus, candidates must indicate the name of the person who referred them during the application process. The bonus is paid in two installments: $1,000 upon completion of the probationary period or hourly rate, and the remaining $1,000 on the employee’s first anniversary.
The positions at Blanche River Health that qualify for the $2,000 referral bonus are: diagnostic imaging technicians, nurse practitioners, registered dietitians, registered nurses, pharmacists, pharmacy assistants, physicians, and physical therapists.
KIRKLAND LAKE, Ontario — A hospital in Northern Ontario is changing the recruiting world by offering a $2,000 reward to anyone worldwide who successfully recommends a new employee for a hard-to-fill position.
Jorge VanSlyke, president and CEO of Blanche River Health, announced July 11 that the new community outreach program is part of efforts to recruit physicians, nurses and other healthcare professionals.
“Recruiting and retaining employees for an organization is no longer just the organization’s responsibility. It really takes the support of an entire community to make this happen. And that’s what we’re trying to do: make our business the community’s business, because we need everyone,” VanSlyke said.
The positions currently eligible for the $2,000 referral bonus are for diagnostic imaging technicians, nurse practitioners, registered dietitians, registered nurses, pharmacists, pharmacy assistants, physicians, and physical therapists.
According to VanSlyke, people who apply for a suitable position are asked whether they have been referred for the position and by whom.
“We’ve also made it easier for people instead of having to fill out a form or, you know, go through a long process. How we do it is whoever is successfully recruited, those are the ones that we ask who referred you to Blanche River Health, and then they say, that’s who we’re offering the incentive to,” she said.
Once the successful candidate completes their probationary period or hourly rate, the person who made the referral will receive a check for $1,000 from Blanche River Health. A second payment of $1,000 will be made on the employee’s first anniversary.
VanSlyke said when she joined Blanche River Health last year, they were struggling with how to expand their recruiting reach.
“One of the things we did was form a committee for physician recruitment and retention. We focused on the physicians, because we went from 12 to five, so we’re really struggling. One of the strategies we identified is why don’t we increase the incentives for the community,” she said.
“Initially the communities we were talking about were Kirkland Lake, Englehart, like our area, but then we thought, let’s take it a step further. Does it really matter where the referral source comes from? You know, you want everybody to talk about Blanche River Health as a place to go. And so we expanded it to you can be anywhere in the world and you can refer to us.”
Also see: Kirkland Lake and Englehart aim to recruit and retain physicians
VanSlyke said she has heard of similar referral incentives in other municipalities in the province, but she doesn’t think “they’re the same mechanisms.”
“And I don’t know if the referral incentive has actually disappeared from their own communities. I’m not sure. So it’s like taking a concept and just making it your own, because again, does it really matter if you’re in Jamaica or Hawaii,” she said.
According to VanSlyke, the shortage of healthcare professionals still has consequences for the region.
“I will speak on behalf of Blanche River Health, but I know my feelings are echoed across the region and in fact across the province, but particularly in the north, the lack of all these positions is really difficult,” she said.
“We still have a lot of officers that we need to support, and we need them, but at the same time it costs us three or four times as much as the normal staffing costs in our areas. And with all that temporary and transitional, it’s hard to talk about quality improvement, quality of care, when you’re always giving orientation and people are struggling to find their way. That’s right. It’s been a challenging world, I would say, especially after the pandemic.”
A list of features that qualify for the referral bonus can be found here on the Blanche River Health website.
Marissa Lentz-McGrath is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter based at TimminsToday, a Village Media publication. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Canadian government.
