A job-seeker site set up by a disenchanted public servant promises a 20,000-kronor ($2,400) reward to anyone who tips off successful candidates for jobs at the hospital in Sollefteå, 500 kilometres north of Stockholm.
The hospital has already found seven of the staff members it needs to keep the emergency room for surgery and orthopaedic treatment open this summer. Now it just needs two more.
“We’ve been given until the end of March to find the doctors,” Majed Safaee told The Local.
Safaee, who works as a communications strategist for the small town, hatched the plan out of frustration.
“The county council isn’t doing its job. They haven’t made much of an effort to recruit and now they’re telling us they’ll close the emergency room at the hospital because it’s understaffed.”
Safaee started a collection to fund the rewards and said he has received “tremendous support” from locals.
He has so far managed to raise 60,000 kronor, some of which will go towards resettlement costs for successful applicants.
“The response has been fantastic. People are really sharing the job ad and tipping off potential candidates,” said Majed.
Earlier this week The Local France reported that a village in Brittany had resorted to hiring a druid healer when it couldn’t find a new doctor.
Asked if Sollefteå was in the market for magic potions, Safaee laughed and said: “We’re not going to go that far. It’s actually not that hard to attract doctors here if you put the effort in.”
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