Healthcare workers are increasingly scarce and pressure is mounting on Piedmont's hospitals and healthcare structures, so much so that the Region recently announced that it will be equipped with armed guards by the end of the year.
But among the remaining untested paths, one lies in Albania. This is the context for the signing of a letter of intent last Thursday between the University of Eastern Piedmont (UPO) and the Albanian University “Eqrem Çabej” in Gjirokastër (Gjirokastër), to launch a “Double Degree” program in Nursing, with the aim of training professionals capable of working in international contexts. The meeting, held at the Rector’s Office in Vercelli, was attended by Rectors Menico Rizzi and Jaho Cana, together with the Regional Health Advisor Federico Riboldi.
An academic collaboration, but with very concrete objectives
Formally, the agreement is academic, but the motivation is clear: Piedmont, like most of Italy, has a significant shortage of nurses (the Nursind union estimates 6,000 fewer than needed, while the latest Gimbe Report estimates 5 nurses per thousand inhabitants). The region is thus trying to create channels of cooperation for training that, at least in the long term, could encourage the arrival of personnel from abroad or the development of joint programs.
"Training nurses with integrated training between Italy and Albania means investing in a more open and modern healthcare system," declared Rector Rizzi, emphasizing the cultural and professional value of the initiative.
“Piedmont is experiencing a structural crisis in the availability of nurses,” reiterated Councilor Riboldi, calling the project “a concrete response” that combines training and international cooperation. “We can no longer simply follow emergencies. We need a long-term strategy and this cooperation could be a starting point.”
But restrictions remain: “They can only work in the private sector.”
In March, an initial exploratory process was launched to explore the possibility of attracting Albanian nurses to Italy, together with the Order of Nursing Professions of Piedmont and Valle d'Aosta. "But the conditions were not there. Albanian nurses cannot be employed by the Italian public health service unless they are citizens or have specific bilateral agreements, which currently do not exist," explains its president, Ivan Bufalo. "Today, they can only work in the private sector, but it would still be a way to address the staff shortage," he adds.
The collaboration with the University of Gjirokastra is, in essence, a sign of openness and international dialogue, but not an immediate solution to the healthcare workforce crisis. The structural problem – consisting of uncompetitive wages, difficult working conditions, and unstable shift workloads – remains untouched.
Therefore, the Region is exploring Albania, but without serious interventions in salaries, contracts and the attractiveness of the sector, young nurses will continue to look elsewhere: often to Northern Europe or even to Arab countries, where these same professionals are paid significantly better.
