Struggle to attract doctors
Palmerston North is proving to be a hard sell for medical staff and other professionals.
The city’s hospital is struggling to attract specialists and is looking to work with other organisations to lure people to the city.
The number of vacancies has increased over the past six months to an average of 53 full-time jobs each month. The issue has raised concerns among Midcentral District Health Board members.
Board member Adrian Broad suggested the DHB could partner with other organisations, like Massey University, to look into how to attract people to the city.
Midcentral people and culture general manager Janine Hearn acknowledged it was a challenge. ‘‘There is absolutely an opportunity for us to partner with other large regional employers to look at how we collectively promote Palmerston North as a destination for professionals.’’ Hearn herself was leaving the DHB and it’s had difficulty finding a replacement.
Midcentral chief executive Kathryn Cook said she had ‘‘become familiar with the phrase ‘great role, wrong location’.’’ Another board member, Karen Naylor, questioned the increase in vacancies.
Hearn said it was partly the time of year and partly because the hospital had some challenging positions to fill.
Senior roles were harder to fill because of the scarcity of qualified people, she said. ‘‘All of those factors are driving that increased figure. We are monitoring it and we do expect it to come back down.’’
Massey University has experienced similar problems. Massey
The number of vacancies has increased over the past six months to an average of 53 full-time jobs each month.
spokesman James Gardiner said the tertiary institute already spoke with other Manawatu employers about how to market the advantages of Palmerston North. ‘‘A lot of it comes down to personal preferences. Some people, particularly those coming from overseas, expect the options a larger city like Auckland offers. Others are looking to escape to somewhere smaller.’’
Gardiner said employment for a spouse was also an issue. ‘‘Clearly there are a greater variety and number of jobs on offer in Wellington and Auckland.’’
But, there was a glimmer of hope. ‘‘What we have noticed is the house prices in Auckland – and now increasingly in Wellington – and a bit of a trend towards people quitting the large cities for the regions is all beginning to help recruitment in Manawatu.’’