Higher staff turnover at Sarnia’s Bluewater Health is said to be a result of the shift to a younger workforce says Shannon Landry, the organization’s chief nursing executive. “Probably one of the biggest increases we’ve seen is the number of maternity leaves,” she says. A recent report from the hospital’s human resources department says half of Bluewater staff (more than 1,700 people) are millennials, born between 1977 and 1995. Parental leaves have gone from about 100 in 2015 to more than 130 for each of the  past two years. That number is expected to continue to climb, notes Landry: “We are right now anticipating and looking at our staffing and our scheduling to ensure we…have that flexibility.” The demographic shift to a younger workforce, she adds, is common across the health-care sector. The overall turnover rate at Bluewater stands at 9.6 per cent, up from 6.7 per cent five years ago. That rate also includes retirements and resignations, but Landry is not worried. Bluewater sees 18,000 to 20,000 job applications per year, she says. (The Sarnia Observer, March 20)