Chatham-Kent Health Alliance officials are pleased with the turnout at their career fair held on Tuesday.
Chief Nursing Executive Lisa Northcott said about 100 people attended the John Bradley Convention Centre in Chatham during the first two hours.
One of the attendees was Dennis Parker -- a personal support worker looking to work at the local hospitals. Parker said he did his internship at a long term care facility when he graduated three years ago and was scared off but is back to give it another try.
"I graduated in 2016 and I did not want to get into the field because I was at a placement in long term care and it scared me away," said Parker.
However, he said the pay and the working conditions at CKHA attracted him to the career fair.
"CKHA has always been on the top of my list because they provide care that nobody else would be able to provide," he added. "They take pride in their staff and there's lots of training and continuous learning.
Parker said he wants to stay away from long term care facilities because he's worried about burnout as the facilities are having trouble keeping their staffing levels up.
"It puts a stranglehold on people like me that go to work every day because when I go to these facilities I'm working alone sometimes," said Parker. "The staff isn't there and that puts you in a position where you're looking after 30 people by yourself and that's not where I want to be."
CKHA is looking for registered nurses and registered practical nurses in medicine, critical care, and surgery along with personal support workers, and lab and diagnostic imaging techs.
Northcott said this is the first career fair at CKHA in about three years.
