Drive on for global healthcare workers

BENDIGO Health is seeking to boost its workforce by recruiting employees from overseas.

The effort is part of a statewide blitz to increase numbers of doctors, nurses, midwives, and allied health professionals.

ICU nurse Reeja Joseph is one of 85,000 overseas workers who have moved to Victoria since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ms Joseph said she had her sights on Australia since completing her studies in India in 2008, however found it difficult to complete the registration process.

After stints in Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom, home-town friend Grishanna Columbu, who has worked at Bendigo Health since 2019, reached out with an opportunity to move.

“She was trying hard to find a job for me,” she said. “She’s the reason I’m living here, otherwise I wouldn’t know about Bendigo.”

“There was an opportunity from the State Government as a skilled migration worker. She was really happy at Bendigo Health]. She said it’s a beautiful place where you can settle.”

Ms Joseph said the process to move was made easier by the hospital and the State Government, who helped her with paperwork and costs.

In the past year, about 700 workers have moved to the state with one in five of those working in regional hospitals.

The State Government offers travel allowances of up to $10,000 for workers relocating to metro areas, and $12,000 for those moving to the regions.

Minister for Health, Mary-Anne Thomas, said the return of international recruits during the COVID-19 pandemic has been crucial to Victoria’s health system.

“Attracting new talent and retaining our existing workforce is central to our pandemic repair plan,” she said.

“Each and every worker is playing a critical role in getting the health system back on track after a really challenging few years.”