Province supports allied health workforce, improves patient care
December 11, 2023
The AHSP is a multi-year road map that is part of and funded through B.C.’s Health Human Resources (HHR) Strategy, which was announced on Sept. 29, 2022. The strategy outlines 70 actions that focus on four cornerstones: retain, redesign, recruit and train. The AHSP highlights 42 actions in the HHR Strategy and introduces 15 new initiatives, for a total of 57 actions, that will directly affect and benefit the allied health workforce across the province. Investing in the allied health workforce means investing in the health and well-being of all people in British Columbia.
Actions in the AHSP will be implemented over the next three to five years. Some immediate actions include:
$15 million over three years to fund training bursaries for priority programs, with the goal of attracting more students to priority nursing, allied-health education programs and public health sector, as well as strengthening Indigenous-student recruitment (HHR Strategy action 57); and
building clinical-practice leadership and clinical-educator capacity around the province through an investment of more than $30 million over three years to establish new senior allied-health leadership roles throughout B.C.’s health authorities and Providence Health Care, which will support more effective clinical-practice oversight and education of allied health professionals to ensure high quality, appropriate, timely and safe patient care (HHR Strategy action 15).
Work to strengthen the allied health workforce has been ongoing and includes:
Bursaries for internationally educated allied health professionals that will help cover costs associated with credential assessments, English language testing, supplemental education, and more (HHR Strategy action 37). There was $4.5 million initially announced in July 2022 and supported the launch of the Internationally Educated Physiotherapists bursary program in June 2023. Additional program expansions will support internationally educated medical laboratory technologists, occupational therapists and other high-demand allied health professions.
Announced in July 2022, expanded health-education opportunities for students looking to join the allied health workforce, with as much as 322 new allied health seats in multiple programs at post-secondary institutions around B.C. (HHR Strategy action 69). As of September 2023, 238 of the 322 seat expansions have been implemented, with remaining seat expansions on track to be fully implemented by September 2026.
