Eric D. Blackburn
Reporter
November 19, 2004
Mountain States Health Alliance will partner with Milligan College’s nursing
program and donate a seven year, $1 million grant in order to fill the nursing
shortage in Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky and North Carolina.
“There will be a severe nursing shortage developing over the next 15 years as
the Baby Boomer generation becomes elderly and begins to consume large amounts
of healthcare associated with an aging population,” said MSHA president and CEO
Dennis Vonderfecht.
With the shortage in the Tri-Cities area, the 16-member board of directors voted
unanimously in late October in favor of supporting a partnership with Milligan’s
plan of not only increasing the number of nursing students but encouraging them
to remain in the area and work at a MSHA hospital upon graduation.
“MSHA is committed to positively impact the supply of nurses within our region,”
said Vonderfecht in his Nov. 9 press release.
The grant is available to those students pursuing a bachelor’s in nursing. Any
recipient that receives the grant must agree upon graduation to work in a MSHA
hospital, at full pay and benefits as a registered nurse, for three years.
“The $1 million gift has come at a time that our nursing program is
experiencing tremendous growth,” said Milligan’s director and associate
professor of nursing Melinda Collins. “Our nation and community is in critical
need of registered nurses.”
According to Collins, college president Donald Jeanes was instrumental in
presenting the proposed plan for the nursing grant.
“President Jeanes presented a great plan,” said Ed Herbert, MSHA vice president
of marketing. “All (Milligan) lacked was a financial partnership, and MSHA was
able to provide that.”
MSHA has had a long-standing relationship with the college’s nursing program. In
the past the company has donated equipment to the nursing labs, provided other
scholarships and employed Milligan graduates.