The President of the Association of Allied Health Professionals says the provincial government has to step up its game when it comes to recruiting specialized health care workers.

The AAHP represents some 26 occupation groups from respiratory therapists to speech pathologists, genetic counsellors, occupational therapists and social workers.

A combination of heavy workload, high demand and greater competition for resources has resulted in an exodus of specialized health care workers from the system.

President Gordon Piercey says the fact of the matter is that recruitment of health care professionals has become much more competitive—amounting to poaching.

He says some premiers have already called upon the federal government to create legislation to prevent the poaching and harvesting of health care workers. Piercey believes what he calls the “planned, coordinated, sequenced…’attack,”‘ on the system resulting in entire graduating classes or work places being scooped up by an employer will become the new normal.

He says government needs to address issues like work/life balance, competitive signing bonuses and better long-term planning to retain the workers we have and recruit more professionals into the system.