Today, we’re in the ballpark of about 1,500 of our team members who are Canadians who cross the border to come work for us. Nearly a thousand of those are nurses, and then we have other professionals like respiratory therapists, radiology technologists, and about any professional role within health care.
Nursing ‘Win-Wins’ On Both Sides of the River: A Q&A With Henry Ford’s Chief Nursing Executive, Eric Wallis
December 23, 2025
How many health care professionals from Canada work for Henry Ford?
How does recruiting health care professionals from Canada fit into your overall kind of workforce strategy?
It’s a vital part of our workforce strategy. Today, Henry Ford Health is a top 10 employer in the Windsor-Essex region. We’ve always seen them as great partners. The University of Windsor has a great nursing program. We know we’re getting highly qualified graduates when we hire them. It benefits the Windsor region as well. The Windsor Regional Medical Center is well-staffed. A lot of those nurses who are graduating can’t get full-time employment there. So, they are often left with the choice of either leaving the region, going to Toronto, or crossing the Detroit River and working here in the States. So those nurses get great experience working with us, for when a role opens up at Windsor Regional. We’re happy to have them. It’s a great relationship, very symbiotic. We think of it very much as a win-win.
Are there any policy steps that can be taken to bolster the health care workforce?
Specifically speaking of Canadian health care workers, prior to 9/11, Canadian nursing students could cross the border and do their clinical training with us. After 9/11, the guidance changed to not allow students to come to the U.S. without a student visa. It has really cut off our access to student nurses. It’s a big piece of recruitment because, if you do your clinical training in a certain spot, you get comfortable with the team and the way things are, and they are more likely to want to work for us.
Is there anything else we should talk about today?
We’re trying hard to think of this area (including parts of Canada) as a region and looking at regional opportunities. We’re very close allies, and close partners separated by an international border. So, the more things that we can do that make that border appear seamless to the workforce, the more it benefits both sides of the Detroit River. And that’s ultimately what we’re trying to be engaged in.
Eric Wallis is Chief Nursing Executive for Henry Ford Health. This interview has been edited for clarity and length.