Good Samaritans recruiting to fill staff shortages at Linden View

By Heather Cameron
Taber Times
Local Journalism Initiative

In an attempt to address staffing shortages, the Good Samaritan Society is currently recruiting new staff in many of their different facilities, including Linden View in Taber.

“We are recruiting for clinical roles, including nursing and health care aides, and non-clinical roles, including cooks and support staff, in several communities,” Dr. Katherine Chubbs, President and CEO of Good Samaritan Society, said.

In terms of recruitment efforts, Chubbs says, the Good Samaritan Society looks to the local community first. 

Chubbs says that to fill clinical roles, they work with post-secondary educational institutions and other training providers for more student practicum placements and recent graduates. 

“We also work with the professional bodies that regulate health care workers as well as recruiting agencies and other organizations to find more people, including health care workers with foreign training,” Chubbs said. “We also regularly participate in job fairs and recruitment events.”

The Good Samaritan Society, Chubbs says, is mandated by provincial legislation and regulation to maintain a certain level of service in all of the care homes and programs owned by the Good Samaritan Society.

“We continue to staff to maintain those levels and we will sometimes bring in temporary staffing to fill any gaps,” Chubbs said.

Chubbs emphasizes that staffing issues are not just limited to the Good Samaritan Society or even limited to Alberta. 

“There is a labour shortage across the entire health care sector,” Chubbs said. “Other parts of the service sector are also experiencing labour shortages. This issue has become more visible following COVID. In some communities there is a smaller potential applicant pool and that can be challenging especially when there are other health care providers (AHS, or other continuing care operators, etc.) also trying to fill vacancies. These issues also exist in larger communities, but with bigger applicant pools it does not have the same impact.”

For more information about the jobs available through the Good Samaritans Society visit: https://gss.org/careers/gss-careers/.