Program suspended after few students signed up for free tuition in exchange for working in small communities
The Ontario government has suspended a program that offered free tuition to nursing students in exchange for them agreeing to work in underserviced communities.
Health Minister George Smitherman said few students have applied to the program.
“The uptake was pretty minimal,” Smitherman told reporters following Question Period. “We put it on pause for now.”
The decision by the Liberals to suspend the program, introduced by the previous Progressive Conservative government, drew the ire of MPP Shelly Martel (NDP – Nickel Belt), who criticized the government earlier in the Legislature.
“Before the election your party promised to create a rewarding environment for nurses and to ease the health-care deficit in communities in the province,” Martel said. “Why are you breaking your promise to nurses and to underserviced communities?”
According to the Toronto Star, Martel also released a letter written by a frustrated nursing student who had tried to access the program but ran into a wall in the form of bureaucrats who knew nothing about the program.
Doris Grinspun, executive director of the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario, told the Star the program was put on the backburner when the Liberals swept to power in the province in October.
“It never got off the ground,” said Grinspun. “I think it got lost in the black hole of transition between one government to another.”
Smitherman said he wouldn’t rule out a similar program in the future, and that incentives will probably be a part of any future efforts to get nurses into underserviced areas of Ontario.
Health Minister George Smitherman said few students have applied to the program.
“The uptake was pretty minimal,” Smitherman told reporters following Question Period. “We put it on pause for now.”
The decision by the Liberals to suspend the program, introduced by the previous Progressive Conservative government, drew the ire of MPP Shelly Martel (NDP – Nickel Belt), who criticized the government earlier in the Legislature.
“Before the election your party promised to create a rewarding environment for nurses and to ease the health-care deficit in communities in the province,” Martel said. “Why are you breaking your promise to nurses and to underserviced communities?”
According to the Toronto Star, Martel also released a letter written by a frustrated nursing student who had tried to access the program but ran into a wall in the form of bureaucrats who knew nothing about the program.
Doris Grinspun, executive director of the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario, told the Star the program was put on the backburner when the Liberals swept to power in the province in October.
“It never got off the ground,” said Grinspun. “I think it got lost in the black hole of transition between one government to another.”
Smitherman said he wouldn’t rule out a similar program in the future, and that incentives will probably be a part of any future efforts to get nurses into underserviced areas of Ontario.
