By Fabian Dawson, New Canadian Media, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Desperate for healthcare workers, British Columbia announced today a series of initiatives, including bursaries of $16,000 each for 1,500 internationally educated nurses (IENs), to enter the province’s health system.

The $9 million in bursaries will go towards helping IENs get registered and licensed faster in B.C., the provincial ministry of health said in a  statement .