Ways to recruit medical staff to work in Bermuda and keep them here against a background of a world-wide shortage in such professionals have been revealed by .

Amongst the solutions is a drive to make the Island?s hospitals? centres of medical excellence by North American standards and to reward staff who further their knowledge and careers through college and university studies and extra curricular activities.

Recognising the problems here and in other parts of the world as countries scramble to offer the best packages to entice medics to relocate, Mrs. Minors has outlined the ongoing initiatives of the Bermuda Hospital Board.

During a debate on the Health Ministry?s budget allocation, the Minister said: ?Staff have been co-opted into not only identifying but also designing new work processes? and pointed out there had been no major work stoppages at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital or the Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute during the past two years.

Last February there were 106 planned resignations, this February there are only 30.

A relocation allowance of $3,000 for professional guest workers and Bermudians recruited from overseas has been introduced and the nurses? salary scale increased from $54,550 - $60,465 to $56,732 - $72,000 with six steps added to the pay scale to give further incentive and reward for long service.

A bonus of up to $1,820 per year is being offered to staff and co-ordinators who achieve international certification in their area of speciality, bonuses also for nurses getting involved in extra-curricular programmes.

Staff will also be able to claim back up to $2,000 per year on any tuition fees from approved college or university courses.

And staff can collect a similar sum if they refer qualified candidates to the BHB to be hired for vacancies on a ?Hard to Fill? list.

Mrs. Minors said: ?Attracting and retaining key medical personnel is an ongoing challenge for a small country like Bermuda. However, even in the face of the world-wide shortage of medical doctors, the BHB has managed to maintain staff from many corners of the globe, bringing international expertise to merge with the stability and excellence of Bermudian doctors who have returned home.?

She said a peer review programme was now underway to establish the BHB as a centre of medical excellence by North American standards.