The Sienna for Seniors Foundation, the philanthropic branch of Sienna Senior Living, has announced a new pledge of $100,000 to Windmill, aimed at supporting the reintegration of healthcare professionals trained abroad as they return to their careers in Canada. Driven to cultivate happiness for their residents, 12,500 team members care for more than 10,000 residents across Sienna homes in Ontario, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Alberta.
“Our team members are at the core of everything we do at Sienna,” says Nitin Jain, President and CEO of Sienna Senior Living. “As one of the largest providers in the senior living sector, we have a responsibility to support and mentor internationally educated healthcare professionals to practice in their trained fields. By partnering with Windmill, we can help create opportunities that will ensure Canadian seniors receive the care they need and deserve, while also strengthening our healthcare workforce.”
Access to healthcare is critical for seniors and of strategic importance to businesses providing long-term care services to aging adults. Right now, Canada faces shortages in healthcare, most especially in nurses and personal support workers (PSWs) that mean seniors across Canada are going without the care they need. The underutilization of IEHPs (internationally educated health professionals) is a key issue.
Recent research has gauged that nearly half (47%) of IEHPs are either unemployed or underemployed, meaning that their skills are not being fully utilized despite our growing need for them.
Ensuring that newcomers can practice in their chosen fields in the health sciences—including therapeutic services, health informatics, support services and diagnostic services—will mean more quality care is available to Canadians, including our growing senior population.
From its early days, Windmill has been helping IEHPs—ever since our founder, Dr. Maria Eriksen, raised funds to support foreign-trained doctors she met who were working as janitors and unable to surmount the significant barriers to licensure they faced in Canada. Those barriers still exist, and we're still here to provide a solution. Since 2005, we have served thousands of physicians, nurses, PSWs and other IEHPs, enabling them to contribute their passion for health to our communities.
Now, thanks to the support of the Sienna for Seniors Foundation and Sienna Senior Living, Windmill will be able to expand our loan funds and offer even more valuable mentorship and coaching from Sienna’s skilled healthcare staff to the numerous internationally trained healthcare professionals who arrive in Canada each year.
