Diaspora nurses respond to Jamaica’s call to help fill public health vacancies

The Jamaican Government has received nearly 140 applications from healthcare professionals overseas following an appeal to the diaspora for specialist nurses to help address shortages in the country’s public health system.

Speaking during a virtual press briefing on Monday, Christopher Tufton, Minister of Health and Wellness, said Jamaica is now moving to the next stage of the recruitment process.

“We have shortlisted close to 70 specialist nurses from the diaspora but also beyond the diaspora, and those 70 are being scheduled for interviews through the Human Resources (HR) Department at the Ministry’s corporate office. So, in the coming week, week and a half or so, we will begin the process of interviewing, and the idea is to fast-track the engagement of those persons,” Tufton said.

The recruitment effort forms part of the Government’s strategy to fill staffing gaps following the end of a technical cooperation agreement with Cuba, under which hundreds of Cuban healthcare professionals had been working in Jamaica’s public health system.

The outreach to the diaspora began in January when Tufton issued a public appeal to overseas-based Jamaican nurses through social media, encouraging them to consider returning home to work in the public sector. In a post on X, the minister invited “suitably qualified specialist nurses” living abroad to apply.

According to the ministry, the recruitment drive targets nurses trained in several specialty areas where shortages persist, including critical and intensive care, operating theatre services, oncology, pediatrics and neonatology, accident and emergency, nephrology and renal dialysis, ophthalmology, and mental health.

Tufton also noted that additional locally trained medical professionals will begin entering the workforce this year through the Barry Wint Scholarship programme. A total of 48 nurses and 33 doctors are expected to join the health system and will be bonded to serve for at least three years.

Another 100 nurses are currently enrolled in a specialist nursing programme and are scheduled to complete their training in October, after which they will be promoted to their respective areas of specialty.

The ministry is also assessing the uptake of direct-contract offers to Cuban healthcare workers currently in the country. Approximately 260 Cuban medical personnel had been deployed to Jamaica under the recently concluded cooperation agreement.

Meanwhile, the Government is exploring additional international recruitment channels. Tufton said negotiations are advanced to finalize memoranda of understanding with Ghana and Nigeria, both of which have a surplus of trained nurses.

“You will recall that the Ghanaian foreign minister was here recently. We had a communique, which indicated a strong interest. Ghana is one of those countries that has an excess of nurses. It’s a similar training protocol and we have signed off on the MOU [which] is now with them. We are encouraged by the feedback, and we believe that we would quickly turn that around over the medium term, within three to six months… and the same thing for Nigeria,” he said.

Looking ahead, Tufton said Cabinet has approved the establishment of an international recruitment unit within the ministry to coordinate overseas hiring efforts, including outreach to the Jamaican diaspora and recruitment through bilateral agreements and private agencies.

The unit will focus primarily on filling gaps in specialized areas of the public health system.