(Photo courtesy/Cumberland College, Facebook)

By Ben Tompkins

In-demand Careers

Cumberland College expanding healthcare programs

Apr 5, 2023 | 3:55 PM

Cumberland College has been selected to expand its health programming for the 2023-24 academic year.

As part of Saskatchewan’s Health Human Resources Action Plan, additional seats will be provided to their Primary Care Paramedic (PCP) and Continuing Care Assistant (CCA) programs.

The PCP program will receive 12 extra seats, while the CCA program will receive 22 added seats.

“We were provided with these additional seats based on regional demand and our ability to deliver and increase capacity for these programs,” interim president and CEO Alison Dubreuil told northeastNOW. “The HHR Action plan was responsive to our needs by increasing our ability for students to train locally and potentially work closer to home.”

More than $5.5 million was initially invested, which will help create over 550 new post-secondary training seats across 18 healthcare programs throughout the province.

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For Cumberland College, their programs will run out of their Nipawin campus, with an expected enrollment of 12 students.

“This investment along with additional training seats will increase interest in this type of training and working in our healthcare system,” explained Dubreuil. “We all know the pressures our healthcare system is facing and this allows our college to contribute to a solution to alleviate this pressure by supplying locally trained and qualified graduates.”

Those small class sizes are expected to ensure that students get adequate instructor support.

The PCP program was last offered at the college in 2019-20.

“Training more CCAs and PCPs will result in our region being able to recruit and hire more of these professionals,” she added. “When students have to leave our region to train, many will find work elsewhere and not return to their home community… training and hiring enough CCAs and PCPs in our region ensures that the people in our communities receive the care they need.”

According to the college, in terms of community support, the program is met with both excitement and relief.

In a press release sent to northeastNOW, Jessica Brost, owner/operator of North East EMS, said there is a significant demand for PCPs in the area.

“There are paramedic positions open in every service in the Northeast region,” said Brost. “Paramedics can now educate, train and work close to or in their home communities. Hopefully, this entices people who were thinking about becoming a paramedic but moving away wasn’t feasible.”

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