N.L. health authority seeking 170 rental units for internationally recruited workers

Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services is looking to get into the rental game and secure 170 housing units for health-care workers recruited to work across the province.

A request for quotation posted March 1 on Merx, the website the provincial government uses to issue calls for bids and tenders, is looking to lease housing units. The deadline for submissions is March 28.

"We will be welcoming new health-care professionals to the province as they become available starting in January 2024 and will continue to require these services in areas throughout the province as recruitment efforts continue," stated the request for supplier qualifications document.

It comes at a time of increased scrutiny over a bombshell Globe and Mail report that revealed the provincial government had spent $35.6 million on nurses from private agencies between April and August 2023. 

It revealed that taxpayers paid, on behalf of Toronto-based private nursing agency Canadian Health Labs, a range of nurses' expenses like cab rides, Walmart furniture, pet transportation and an air fryer. Those travel nurses were paid nearly double the cost of similar agencies in the country.

In total, the health authority is looking for 170 units: 50 units in the Eastern Urban zone, 30 units in the Eastern-Rural zone, 40 units in the Central zone, 30 units in the Western zone and 20 units in the Labrador-Grenfell zone.

"We expect the minimum number of units required per health zone as outlined below but these could change based on recruitment outcomes," states the document.

It added the health authority isn't committing to leasing the listed units.

CBC News asked the health authority for an interview but spokesperson Mikaela Etchegary sent a statement instead, which reiterated the information contained in the request for supplier qualifications.

"N.L. Health Services is preparing to welcome international health-care professionals who will help to ensure we can continue to provide care to all residents of the province," Etchegary wrote.

When asked for clarification on whether those hires included travel nurses or were permanent employees, she replied only that they are people who are internationally trained health-care workers who have "committed to employment with N.L. Health Services."

The provincial government recently announced it had made job offers to 68 nurses after a recruitment trip to Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It's part of a global strategy employed by the province to bring health-care professionals to Newfoundland and Labrador that has included recent recruitment trips to Ireland and India.

Premier Andrew Furey has called housing availability across the province an "acute crisis."

Who are units for?

In a statement to CBC News, Registered Nurses' Union Newfoundland and Labrador president Yvette Coffey said if these accommodations are for internationally recruited workers then they would likely be permanent workers — something she welcomes.

Coffey said recruitment must be paired with "robust support" for recruitment efforts to succeed. Without support, internationally recruited health-care workers face challenges, as do health-care workers in general, she added.

"A lack of supports would represent a failure by the government to adequately address the needs," she said.

She said the housing units could be used for a travel locum pilot program in Labrador, which came out of a nursing think tank in 2022. Coffey added she'd like to see that initiative expanded into rural and other remote areas.

"We would be very concerned if the housing was for private agency nurses. As a matter of fact, we have a number of questions around what government's plan is to wean our public health-care system off private nurses. This is a question we would like to see answered," Coffey said.

From studios to family homes

According to the request for supplier qualifications document, the health authority is interested in individual studios or efficiency units, houses with multiple bedrooms, basement apartments with multiple bedrooms, apartment buildings, townhouses and condos.

They must also come furnished, including bedsheets, kitchen appliances and furniture that are new or in "like-new condition."

The units have to be within a 15-minute drive of a health authority facility and near public transportation to amenities like grocery stores, restaurants and other services. They also want the units in a "quiet and safe neighborhood."

The health authority wants a lease term for one year with the option to extend it to two years.

The owner must also provide cleaning services between tenant stays.

"Tenant changeover cleaning could range from every six weeks to once per year. Interval cleaning is required for long-term stays every three months," the document says. "Landlord will be notified via email of tenant arrivals and departures to facilitate scheduling of cleaning."

Companies and landlords can apply and in their submission they will need to break down the cost per unit, as well as all utilities and property maintenance and where the unit is located, said the document.

After bids are submitted, the health authority will ask "qualified suppliers" for quotes, with awarded contracts dependent on the lowest bid.

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