TOWSON, MD (February 7, 2008) –Governor Martin O’Malley today visited St. Joseph Medical Center in Towson, to announce new initiatives to recruit more nursing faculty and students to address the nursing shortage and public health in the State. During his visit, Governor O’Malley announced the allocation of $3.4 million to the University of Maryland School of Nursing from the Higher Education Investment Fund (HEIF) to help address the shortage. This is the second in a series of events to highlight workforce creation initiatives in the State.
Last year, Governor O’Malley appropriated $5.93 million to the Maryland Higher Education Commission’s Nursing Support Program, to expand enrollment in nursing programs and create jobs. The Program is expected to increase enrollment by 2,613 students over the next five years.
“Nurses are the backbone of Maryland’s healthcare system and play an invaluable role in delivering the best patient care,” said Governor O’Malley. “To ensure that all Marylanders have access to the highest quality of care, an adequate supply of well-trained and committed nurses is absolutely critical.”
As of 2003, Maryland was experiencing a shortage of 3,000 nurses, 2,000 of which are needed in hospitals alone, according to the Association of Maryland Hospitals and Health Systems. The demand for registered nurses in the year 2012 is projected to increase to 62,333 nurses – leaving Maryland at a projected shortage of 17,000 nurses if action is not taken now.
Governor O’Malley was joined today by Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Secretary John Colmers, Maryland Higher Education Commission Secretary James Lyons, Dean of the University of Maryland School of Nursing, Dr. Janet Allen, and officials from the St. Joseph Medical Center, President and CEO John Tolmie and Chief Nurse Officer Pam Jamieson.
“Nurses are of critical importance to Maryland’s health care delivery system,” said DHMH Secretary John M. Colmers. “They are medically trained professionals who provide outstanding and compassionate care. We must focus our resources on appropriate workplace development programs to ensure that this time-honored profession prospers through this century and beyond.”
“It’s unconscionable that we have to turn away nearly 2,000 qualified applicants to our nursing programs while one in eight RN positions at hospitals remain vacant,” said Dr. Janet Allan, dean of the University of Maryland School of Nursing. “We won’t solve the nursing shortage unless we solve the nursing faculty shortage first.”
The School of Nursing is the largest in the nation, with over 500 graduates per year, and is ranked 7th, according to U.S. News and World Report. The $3.4 million allocated from the Higher Education Investment Fund (HEIF) will go towards the implementation of the first phase of the School of Nursing’s plan to address the nursing shortage, providing:
This funding is directed at accomplishing many of our common goals for Maryland at the same time, improving public education as a means of protecting opportunity, improving public safety through healthcare, and fundamentally creating more jobs to expand our workforce.
“The Maryland Higher Education Commission awards $110 million a year in scholarships to State students. A substantial amount of these include workforce shortage assistance grants for nurses, nursing faculty, and physical and occupational therapists,” said MHEC Secretary James Lyons. “MHEC’s Loan Assistance Repayment Grants program is popular among nurses, primary care physicians and dentists willing to practice in rural areas, and many of our educational assistance grants and Delegate and Senatorial scholarships go to nurses as well, as these jobs are so valuable.”
“The Governor’s initiative to expand nursing school spaces to help relieve the nursing shortage is commendable. Here at St. Joseph Medical Center, our unique, new LAUNCH mentoring program has assisted us in recruiting 28 new nursing graduates to our hospital this year. The new nurses help ease the nurse shortage for St. Joseph and gain valuable experience and training from our staff,” said John Tolmie, CEO of St. Joseph Medical Center.
Increasing enrollment in nursing programs, and improving the resources available to Maryland’s medical professionals and the facilities available to them to teach these students, not only holds the key to ending the nursing shortage in our state, but will ultimately expand our workforce and take us one step closer to achieving our goals for Maryland.
[ view video (realplayer required) ]
February 7, 2008 |
|---|