College of Michigan Well being-West will assist nursing college students at Grand Rapids Group School pay for his or her coaching via a brand new partnership designed to handle an acute nursing scarcity.

Beneath the initiative, the well being system intends to pay for as much as three semesters of tuition for college kids enrolled in GRCC’s nursing program who’ve accomplished one semester of their instruction. Nursing college students accepted into this system must decide to working at College of Michigan Well being-West for 2 years after incomes a two-year diploma at GRCC and securing their state license.

College of Michigan Well being-West will then “encourage and assist their completion of a bachelor’s diploma in nursing via present partnerships and tuition reimbursement,” in accordance with an announcement on the partnership with GRCC.

“By eradicating price obstacles — together with for grownup learners and others who have to proceed working whereas ending their training — this system creates and nurtures a various pipeline of native well being care expertise,” College of Michigan Well being-West CEO Dr. Peter Hahn mentioned in an announcement. “We see this as an funding not simply in our workforce however in West Michigan itself. This can be a method to make sure that the brand new technology of rising well being care leaders displays the communities we serve.”

Labor challenges worsen

As we speak’s announcement cites U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics information that predict a deep scarcity of nurses nationally, with 203,000 openings yearly throughout the U.S. via 2031.

In West Michigan, the latest Well being Verify report printed by Grand Valley State College’s Seidman School of Enterprise initiatives employment for registered nurses within the four-county Grand Rapids space to develop by 1,171 positions between 2020 and 2028, to fifteen,111. When retirements, elevated demand, attrition and different points are figured into the equation, GVSU initiatives the Grand Rapids-area market to common greater than 900 registered nurse job openings yearly, together with 130 new positions every year, in accordance with the 2022 Well being Verify report that makes use of state and federal information.

Statewide, Michigan will common a projected 6,442 RN job openings yearly via 2028, together with the expansion of 956 new positions.

This yr’s Well being Verify report famous {that a} “lower within the quantity of highschool graduates, together with a notable lower within the variety of training jobs in the previous couple of years, means that the pool of people getting into college applications could lower in future years” throughout a number of well being care professions.

“As such, coverage and neighborhood efforts will probably be very important to retain the present expert healthcare workforce, in addition to encourage gifted people to pursue levels resulting in employment inside the well being care sector,” GVSU researchers wrote.

Care suppliers have lengthy been coping with a scarcity of nurses that has worsened because the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, as many professionals retired or left for different care settings reminiscent of a high-paying journey nurse group, or moved to a completely totally different career.

At one level within the pandemic, College of Michigan Well being-West had a 20 % emptiness fee for nursing positions, Chief Nursing Officer Steve Polega informed MiBiz. The emptiness fee has since settled at 12 to fifteen % on the well being system, which presently employs about 830 nurses. College of Michigan Well being-West has been filling expertise gaps with high-cost journey nurses, Polega mentioned.

‘Do one thing proactive’

The GRCC partnership will assist to “feed our pipeline and develop our pipeline of nurses which are working right here,” he mentioned.

“The pandemic was life-changing for lots of people. We had lots of people go away the nursing area, and we had a number of our most skilled of us retire early and that left a giant expertise hole there, and it looks as if of us will not be coming again to nursing,” Polega mentioned. “It’s actually brought about a problem for the entire native hospitals to fill their positions … so we actually felt like we needed to do one thing proactive to fill a few of these holes.”

The well being system is funding this system via assist from the College of Michigan Well being-West Basis that dedicated funding for 20 positions yearly for 2 years. The well being system now seeks a everlasting funding supply to assist this system past 2024, Polega mentioned.

“We’re already pursuing funding to fund this program longer than two years. We’re working with our basis and dealing with different alternatives to safe funding,” he mentioned. “Hopefully, we will get funding to have this program go on for a number of years.”

As nicely, College of Michigan Well being-West has had “preliminary talks” with different neighborhood faculties about related nursing partnerships, Polega mentioned. The well being system can increase this system if it might probably safe funding and would method different potential companions “if we get a giant donation,” he mentioned.

“The great thing about this system we developed is that it’s actually scalable,” Polega mentioned.

By the partnership with GRCC, College of Michigan Well being-West goals to have 10 to fifteen nursing college students enroll in this system in December and graduate in April 2023. This system will goal 10 extra nursing college students in every of the subsequent three semesters via December 2024, or 20 per yr.

“Aiding college students with tuition permits them to deal with finishing their training, and finally enter the office extra rapidly and higher ready,” mentioned Michelle Richter, GRCC’s Nursing Program director. “The chance for employment upon commencement permits college students to have the ability to serve the neighborhood in a rewarding profession, and proceed including expertise and advancing their training.”

The appliance for this system began final week. College of Michigan Well being-West will choose contributors inside a couple of weeks, with a desire for current workers who need to turn into a nurse, Polega mentioned.

The partnership between GRCC and College of Michigan Well being-West is the newest effort within the area searching for to carry extra folks into the nursing career.

Corewell Well being Ludington Hospital early this month shaped a nursing apprenticeship program. Members will enroll in West Shore Group School’s nursing program for classroom instruction and medical training and work at Corewell Well being Ludington Hospital the place they’ll obtain on-the-job coaching.

This system ought to start in 2023 and is meant to expedite how lengthy nursing college students take to arrange to offer affected person care.

“The agricultural well being workforce faces many challenges, together with nursing shortages,” mentioned Meleah Mariani, chief nursing officer at Corewell Well being Ludington Hospital. “The registered nurse apprenticeship can open doorways for many who in any other case may not pursue a profession in nursing. So many occasions, I’ve heard somebody say, ‘I all the time needed to be a nurse,’ however the necessity to work full-time, the calls for of childcare, and different related bills create roadblocks.”

Corewell Well being again in April additionally dedicated $19 million towards growing the expertise pipeline for nurses who earn their diploma at Grand Valley State College. Beneath the West Michigan Nurse Scholar program, the Grand Rapids well being system seeks to assist as much as 500 extra college students over six years on the GVSU Kirkhof School of Nursing.

GVSU deliberate to make use of the funding to assist scholar monetary assist, medical placements, enhanced curriculum, know-how and tools, and scholar assist companies.