Legislature eyeing incentive program for nurses, doctors

As compensation package elsewhere becomes more competitive, the Legislature is eyeing the implementation of an incentive program that would help prevent the exodus of government nurses and doctors.

The Legislature is also looking at the possibility of reprogramming nursing courses now being offered at the Northern Marianas College.

The proposal stemmed from recent recommendations and the letter of assistance forwarded by the Board of Professional Licensing in light of the continued shortage of manpower in the medical field.

House Committee on Health and Welfare Chair Malua T. Peter disclosed plans to meet with NMC Board of Regents and Public School System officials to map out an effective plan to resolve these concerns.

In addition to this, Ms. Peter is also contemplating on the evaluation and review of a local law where a certain percentage of the alien labor processing fees are distributed to several entities including NMC.

Ms. Peter said NMC’s share on the processing fee could be used to improve the nursing course now being offered by the College.

The legislator added that even the licensing board has expressed concerns on the continuing shortage of nurses in the Northern Marianas. She urged the Legislature to take a closer look and come up with an effective measure to deal with the problem.

“We are continuously losing nurses and doctors and to address these concerns we are studying a possible incentive program and additional funding assistance to resolve this,” the health and welfare committee chair explained.

Late last year, Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio signed into law House Bill 12-285 which extends the privilege of nonresident workers with special skills and qualifications to fill hard-to-fill vacant positions within the CNMI government.

The law aims to alleviate the critical situation currently facing the Commonwealth Health Center as well as other departments and agencies that rely on nonresident workers for certain positions.

The governor also urged government agencies and departments to train and aggressively recruit resident workers to fill the needed positions.

PSS is also carefully studying these problems. The education system will tap the assistance of various private and public agencies on the island to identify the needed labor force.

Aside from a possible collaborative effort with businesses, PSS is also studying how to effectively implement on-the-job training program to help students gain work-based experiences.

Acting Associate Commissioner on Secondary Education Rita A. Sablan discussed these probabilities explaining the need to upgrade the program in effort to produce qualified workforce who will fill certain positions at the CHC and other agencies.

PSS is trying to discover what is marketable right now and what are the needs of the community. Ms. Sablan added that this way, the PSS will be able to give students several choices on what career path to pursue in the future.

PSS will work closely with the Northern Marianas College 2+2 program to help students gain college credits while completing their senior year.

In addition, these students would be able to cope with the demands of the Commonwealth, undergo training and gain even the entry level positions to prepare their professional careers. (EGA)