The B.C. government is running a $5 million marketing campaign to encourage more health professionals in the U.S. to move to the province. 

The health ministry said in a release the marketing campaign was launched on June 2 in Washington state, Oregon and select cities in California. It includes video, audio digital and print ads ranging from social media and podcasts to billboards and bus shelters.

The six-week campaign directs health professionals toward the B.C. government’s recruitment website, which includes information about moving and working in B.C., as well as job openings. 

The release said nearly 1600 health professionals have expressed interest in coming to the province since March, including more than 700 doctors.

Speaking at a clinic in Colwood Friday, Health Minister Josie Osborne couldn’t say how many of those health professionals have followed through and are in the process of applying to work in B.C.

“We’ve never undertaken a recruitment campaign like this before, so we are building out a system that will enable us to track the inquiries as they move through the system, and we’ll be able to report out on those data in time.”

When asked whether there’s a target number of doctors and nurses the province hopes to bring in with this recruitment campaign, Osborne had a short answer – “as many as possible.” She said the campaign is expected to reach about 250,000 U.S. health professionals.

Osborne said B.C. has competitive salaries for doctors and nurses, but adds she believes the province’s values are attractive to health professionals, beyond “dollars and cents.” 

“Knowing that we have a publicly funded, universal access health care system [a single payer system] that reduces some of the administrative burden is a real attraction for US-based professionals,” said Osborne. 

In May, the province announced a new fast-tracked process for registering U.S.-trained nurses, saying in some cases nurses could be ready to work in B.C. within days of applying, rather than months. 

The health ministry says it’s also working to streamline the process for U.S. doctors through planned bylaw changes for the College of Physicians and Surgeons of B.C.