The Sun Country Health Region board continued to pursue options for retention and recruitment in the health region during their monthly board meeting held on Wednesday.

One of the ways to further retention, as discussed by CEO Cal Tant, are plans to send a nursing manager and rehabilitation manager on a western universities recruitment tour.

"This way they can talk directly to the health sciences students face to face," commented Tant. "They can tell them everything there is to know about living in southeast Saskatchewan and working for the Sun Country Health Region from their own experiences."

Recruitment is moving forward also with a new physician, Doctor Wynard Van der Merwe, landing in the province to take a position of operation in Arcola.

Also discussed in their board meeting were the resolution that the Sun Country Health Region board will be sending to SAHO's annual convention, which takes place Sunday, April 22 to Tuesday, April 24.

"We are sending a resolution on our 911 service, as we are not happy due to the uncompleted coverage for cell phones in the province," commented Earl Kickley, Chair of the health board.

"The other resolution we are sending is a request for further training for our emergency systems," stated Kickley. "We would like them trained better in land locations, like GPS locations, so emergency locations could be easier located and reached faster."

The health board will also be meeting with the President of the University of Saskatchewan, Peter McKinnon, at their next board meeting on Friday, Feb. 28, in Estevan.

The board will be able to ask him questions after a presentation, and further the connection between the health region and health science students.