With the signing of a symbolic regional labor agreement on Friday, March 6, the FlexDrenthe500 project of Gezonde Marke (links to another website) officially started. Care and welfare organizations in Drenthe collaborate on a regional approach to address the growing staff shortage. The goal is that by the end of 2027, five hundred professionals will share their talents across organizational boundaries.
During the kick-off, among others, Yonas Tewelde, chairman of the Board of Directors at Vanboeijen (links to another website), and Leo Wanders, Board of Directors at Dignis (links to another website), were present. Deputy Willemien Meeuwissen of Province of Drenthe (links to another website) received and signed the regional labor agreement, marking the start of joint experiments with innovative regional employment in Drenthe.
Smarter collaboration
The pressure on healthcare is increasing due to aging and rising shortages. At the same time, many professionals are willing to work more hours when work and schedules better align with their wishes. FlexDrenthe500 therefore focuses on the use of combination jobs and flexible deployment across organizations and sectors.
From the project, various cross-domain experiments start at care and welfare organizations in Drenthe. The ambition is to create one Drenthe coordination point so that schedules become more robust and professionals remain in the region. The approach is deliberately on a Drenthe scale: we learn what works here and scale successful solutions regionally.
According to Leo Wanders, administrative owner of FlexDrenthe500, the current tight labor market requires a different way of organizing:
By developing attractive combination functions, we can retain and attract more professionals by offering more variety, challenge, and job satisfaction. This is urgently needed in a sector where the workload is high.”
During the kick-off, it became clear that the movement in Drenthe is already well underway. Yonas Tewelde pointed to the regional deployment of specialist expertise.
“The VG doctors (doctors for people with intellectual disabilities) of Vanboeijen now work for eleven other care providers in the region. This way, we broaden and strengthen expertise in Drenthe, especially in places where it is urgently needed.”
Broad labor market challenge
The Province of Drenthe supports this project financially and substantively. Deputy Willemien Meeuwissen emphasized during the meeting that the effort in the healthcare sector is part of a broader labor market challenge:
“Innovative projects like FlexDrenthe500 are incredibly valuable for our province. They require a lot of preparation and coordination behind the scenes but contribute to a stronger region and to the earning capacity of Drenthe professionals. That is why we wholeheartedly support this project.”
FlexDrenthe500 is carried out under the banner of Gezonde Marke with Stichting ZorgpleinNoord (links to another website) as lead party. The project runs until the end of 2026.
About Gezonde Marke
Gezonde Marke is the Drenthe movement for a healthier life. In this network, care and welfare organizations, municipalities, province, health insurers, and residents work together for a vital Drenthe. The collaboration aims to build future-proof healthcare, positive health, and resilience of people. This is done by investing in a strong social foundation, a healthy living environment, a healthy labor market, and accessible care.
The Labor Market coalition focuses on retaining employees, attractive employment, regional cooperation, different education, smarter working with innovation, and hybrid care. This way, Gezonde Marke builds a future-proof healthcare labor market in Drenthe and the professional of the future: flexible, broadly deployable, and focused on what residents need.