Three Rio Grande Valley hospitals are addressing the region’s chronic nursing shortage with a bold plan to develop their own registered nurses.
The hospitals are Harlingen Medical Center, Mission Regional Medical Center and Knapp Medical Center in Weslaco. The group’s parent company is California-based Prime Healthcare. The latter has entered into an agreement with the Texas School of Health Sciences to offer an 18-month, 40-hour weekly immersion program that will prepare nursing students to take licensure examinations whose passage will make them registered nurses.
Prime Healthcare and its Valley hospitals will pay for all educational and training expenses incurred by the nursing students. The three hospitals will also provide the on-site clinical experiences for the nursing students. In return, upon successfully completing the program, the students must commit to working at least 36 months at a Prime Healthcare hospital in the Valley.
The first class of 30 students gets its start this October at Knapp Medical Center, which serves as the headquarter hospital for the new nursing school. Kyle Hunt, the president of the school, expects the program will attract some current employees from the three hospitals, along with first-generation college students from various backgrounds.
“Prime Healthcare and its hospitals in the Valley believe in their employees and in their communities,” said Hunt. “This program offers a life-changing opportunity for its students.”
Finding The Right Partner
Hunt is a Victoria native and the son of a registered nurse.
He has a background in banking and finance, but it’s healthcare and nursing, in particular, that have long been of interest to him given his mother’s many years in the profession. Years ago, he began formulating the vision of a nursing school which could partner with a medical institution, like a hospital company, and work in tandem to develop nurses.
Hunt went through the necessary work of gaining certifications of authority from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and the Texas Board of Nursing. Even with those in hand, it would prove to be a challenge to find the right partner for the sort of nursing school where students could enroll without the worry of paying any of the expenses. Hunt wanted a nursing school for deserving students coming from moderate-to-lower income families who have the ambition and willingness to serve their communities through nursing.
“I met with many companies but their vision was to make money off the backs of students,” he said of tuition and training expenses. “Prime Healthcare was different. They said, ‘We need nurses and we will foot the bill upfront.’ “
Partnering Locally
The California-based company is doing so for its Valley hospitals along with the financial support of the Knapp Community Care Foundation and the Robert J. Kleberg Jr. and Helen C. Kleberg Foundation. Thanks to those donated resources, a nursing student in Hunt’s school can focus on the rigors of a fast-track program without worrying about student loans or asking family members for financial support. Their path to becoming registered nurses with an associate degree will come without paying a dollar for tuition, training and equipment expenses.
The one condition in addition to successfully completing the program and passing the nursing exam is to work for a Prime Healthcare hospital in the Valley for at least three years. Hunt believes the Valley is well-suited for that sort of commitment since many of its residents prefer staying in the area to be close to family while earning the training and education to gain them a good-paying job.
“In talking to the applicants, when we tell them about the 36-month commitment, the reaction we hear is, ‘My education and training is being paid for and on top of that, you’re guaranteeing me a job?'” Hunt said. “They’re pretty pleased about it.”