Ariz., local leaders talk ways to ease nursing shortage

“It was really an honor to be on board with this budget – that was $44 million for accelerated nurses program. And areas like Yuma tend to suffer from a lack of nurses, so this accelerated program helps the reaches of the state. We are not living in the great state of Maricopa but we represent rural residents, so that was extremely important.”

Sen. Lisa Otondo (D, District 4) praised the passing of H.B. 2691 during Arizona Western College’s town hall on Wednesday. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Joanne Osborne (R, District 13), provides $15 million for nursing programs at local public universities and community colleges and $27 million for student nurse clinical rotations.

Per the governor’s office, the bill establishes the Arizona Nurse Education Investment Pilot Program which aims to increase the number of nurse graduates by fiscal year 2027.

“What we’ve been doing to solve problems is to look at what’s going on in our state and seeing where those needs are – and the colleges have been such a huge part of that,” said Osborne, who’s also chairman for Health and Human Services. “So healthcare, for example: We have a nursing shortage and especially after going through COVID, it has just exhausted and exasperated that need. And so it was like, ‘What can we do to fill that pipeline?’ And I carried a very large appropriation bill to do just that. That was the full spectrum of what it’s going to take to get a nurse through not only helping the colleges with expanding their nursing programs, but there was also the bottleneck that we would find were the clinical rotations. And so it was putting money towards that but also the healthcare facilities matching those monies to help these

fledgling nurses get through the system. We also put money towards preceptorships and just really making this an all-hands-ondeck situation to help with that nursing shortage.”

Reetika Dhawan, vice president for workforce development and career and technical education for AWC, stated that H.B. 2691 will be a big help for expanding the program and supporting nursing students. Where currently the program can support 40 students, that number will nearly double.

“... in 2023 we can increase that number of students to 60 students,” she said. “That shows that power this funding means to us. This money is not only going to support students through scholarships or the books or the fees but also for the transportation, for the childcare. So this means a lot for that person who goes to the nursing program … They know that if someone goes to the nursing program, they can’t even do a part-time job. So they need that support. This means a lot to any student who’s going through this program; it is a game changer.”

For the Yuma Regional Medical Center (YRMC), the investment in nursing education is also a development for their workforce.

“The pandemic really shone a bright light and drove a lot of change for health care organizations all over the nation; we were no exception to that in our community,” YRMC Chief Operating Officer Dr. Trudie Milner said. “So this investment really signals support for making sure that we can continue to develop a pipeline of talent. In addition to that, I’m really passionate about the very effective and long-term relationship between the hospital and the college and the support that we’ve received as it relates to workforce development.

“When people think about healthcare, they often think about just the clinical occupations. But there’s more to it than that and it’s a very complex and large number of different work categories. Through the partnership that we’ve had over all these years with the college, we’ve really been able to support the ongoing and growing healthcare needs of the community. And I think that’s something that really deserves to be recognized and appreciated. As we go forward, we know that there’s going to be huge demands in this field. And we want to, through our relationship with the college, create effective pathways to be able to develop the necessary talent. So that’s really what’s on my mind today and what we’re really appreciating about the relationship with the college and our support from our state representatives.”

In an individual interview with the Sun, Milner explained that several things happened during the pandemic to result in the shortage seen across the nation today. There were increases in retirees and people leaving the profession due to COVID-19’s demands as well as opportunities in other parts of the country that some chose to pursue.

“We are fortunate as an organization to receive support from federal resources during the peak of the pandemic but we’ve continued our recruitment efforts and we are working to close the gap on what are our needs,” she said. “Healthcare doesn’t stop, our community continues to grow. There’s a need for more professionals so we’re going to continue to grow it, which brings us exactly back to why our relationship with the college and the college’s relationships with the other institutions in Arizona like NAU, ASU, U of A are so important for the future of healthcare in Yuma County.”

During the panel, Osborne and Milner also referenced the growing behavioral health needs in the state.

“As I said about the nursing program, part of that bill also included pilot programs for behavioral health and trying to get more people in that pipeline …” Osborne said. “Behavioral health is going to be a challenge going forward. I’m hoping that it’s a blip in time and that we all come together. That is my challenge to you. Because ladies and gentlemen, government doesn’t solve everything. It’s on us. It’s on parents, it’s on aunts and uncles, it’s on businesses, it’s stepping up and saying, ‘Okay, we have a generation right now that needs some attention.’ And I have been tasked with being the chairman of an ad hoc committee on teen mental health. And we are working on a statewide list of recommendations and ideas. But every bit of that is going to take each and every one of us because they are recommendations and ideas. But it’s going to take all of us to really work it.”

In discussing the future of behavioral health in the county, Milner also referenced upcoming projects that will boost the availability of behavioral healthcare locally. Currently, YRMC has been working with AWC to create fast-tracked pathways for people to join YRMC’s workforce and meet community needs.

“And that’s our mission, which speaks to partnerships, right?” said AWC President Dr. Daniel Corr. “No one entity can do it alone. We have the legislative, we have the K-12, we have to have our university partners, our healthcare partners – it’s all about those partnerships to help us get it done.”