FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Nov. 3, 2008 Contact: Lynn Whalen, lynn.whalen@llcc.edu; 786.2219; Lori Harlan, Communications Manager, Memorial Health System, 788-3593 SPRINGFIELD – Officials of Memorial Health System and Lincoln Land Community College (LLCC) announced today a new partnership to address the shortage of registered nurses. The partnership will allow 20 additional students to enter the associate degree nursing (ADN) program at LLCC and will provide five students with full scholarships to the program. Under the agreement, LLCC will increase the number of students in its evening ADN program from 30 to 50 beginning in January. Memorial will provide two nursing faculty for supervision and teaching of the clinical (onsite) portion of the nurses’ training. Memorial will also provide financial resources ($13,100) for the first year to allow LLCC to expand classroom training to accommodate the 20 additional students. Five scholarships for LLCC ADN students will be established by Memorial Health System. The value of each scholarship will total approximately $9,000 and may be used by students for tuition, fees and books during the two-year program. Scholarship recipients must agree to a five-year work commitment at Memorial Health System following graduation. LLCC expects to fill the 20 additional spaces in its evening program with students currently on a waiting list. “The number of graduates coming out of nursing programs is insufficient to meet the increasing demand for new nurses and to replace the large number of ‘baby boomer’ nurses who are now retiring from long and successful careers,” said Marsha Prater, R.N., Ph.D., senior vice president and chief nursing officer for Memorial Health System. “Our innovative partnership will have a meaningful impact as we work to resolve this challenging need in healthcare.” “We are grateful to Memorial Health System and pleased that this agreement will allow more students to enter into the high demand and high need area of nursing,” said Charlotte Warren, Ph.D., president of Lincoln Land Community College. Cynthia Maskey, associate dean of health professions at LLCC, agreed. “A shortage of clinical sites and lack of master’s degree level faculty have been barriers to enrolling additional students in our program, while hospitals continue to face a shortage of registered nurses. Memorial came to us asking how they could help more students enter our program, and this agreement is the successful result of those discussions.” The agreement states that both LLCC and Memorial acknowledge a public obligation to contribute to education in health careers for the benefit of students and the community. Both parties believe it is of mutual benefit to expand the number of graduates of the LLCC ADN program. More information on the LLCC ADN and other nursing programs is available by calling 786.2437 or online at www.llcc.edu/nurs.
Posted on Friday, November 21, 2008
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