Interior Health said student nurses training at Cariboo Memorial Hospital (CMH) choose to stay in Williams Lake at a rate of 83 per cent.
The retention numbers were part of an update provided by Interior Health to Williams Lake city council at the regular city council meeting on Nov. 19.
This was information related to questions council had for IH at the previous quarterly IH update.
One focus for council was whether or not the four-year nursing program could be brought back to Thompson Rivers University in Williams Lake in order to help support better nurse attraction and retention.
While IH said they had conversations with Thompson Rivers University (TRU) about the possibility of once again having the four-year program in Williams Lake, IH said TRU does not believe they could fill the program enough in order to recover their costs.
Aneta D'Anjelo, executive director of clinical education and professional practice with IH, said they are continuing those conversations and looking at ways to increase the amount of time student nurses spend in CMH.
Acting mayor Sheila Boehm expressed her disbelief a four year program in Williams Lake would not be cost-recoverable in time, and said there is a four-year program in Quesnel.
Aspiring nurses can spend their first two years of study in Williams Lake, and student nurses can apply for positions at Cariboo Memorial Hospital as part of an employed student nurse program with IH.
The program gives the students experience in the hospital while they are still completing their studies and Cheryl Whittleton, chief nursing and allied health officer and professional practice leader for Interior Health, presenting remotely, said CMH retains these student nurses at a rate of 83 per cent.
Nearly 90 per cent of the student nurses CMH hosts come from Thompson Rivers University's nursing program.
"This is an important relationship for us," said Whittleton. She said they are working on how they can increase the number of student placements as the hospital grows.
Whittleton said this year they have surpassed all of their new hire targets for new graduate nurses at Cariboo Memorial Hospital.
A new role has also been created to help mentor those new nurses into the hospital setting.
IH also presented on the specialty training they provide to their nurses, including in-house emergency department training. More than $1 million has been invested in training 42 nurses at CMH over the past four years according to D'Anjelo.
"We are committed to continuing to deliver this training for all staff who wish to continue to grow professionally," she said.
