Oklahoma Universities and Hospitals Partner to Address Workforce Needs

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Oklahoma colleges and universities are working to bridge gaps in the state’s health care workforce, particularly in rural areas, by incentivizing students to pursue careers in various health care professions.

Some students pursuing degrees in health professions will be eligible for tuition payments through a new partnership between Southwestern Oklahoma State University, or SWOSU, and Comanche County Memorial Hospital, while partnerships at other schools, like the University of Oklahoma’s College of Nursing, are also taking aim at meeting workforce needs.

Critical shortages can be found in nearly all of Oklahoma’s health care professions and those shortages are intensified in rural areas, according to the Oklahoma Hospital Association.

SWOSU students who are pursuing degrees in specified health care and administrative programs can receive tuition payments if they work at the Comanche County Memorial Hospital after graduation. Students will also receive hands-on experience at the hospital while in school.

“We will serve as one of SWOSU’s clinical sites for various health care related professions,” said Brent Smith, CEO of the hospital, in a statement. “We appreciate this collaborative effort and are eager to begin this program that will help meet the growing health care needs of our community.”

Joel Kendall, provost and vice president for academic affairs at SWOSU, said the partnership was modeled after a previous one between SWOSU and Integris Health for nursing students.

“It’s just really important that we provide that workforce, for nursing and other allied health programs, especially in rural health,” he said. “In Oklahoma that’s critically needed right now, so partnerships like this are trying to address that.”

Kendall said around 1,500 SWOSU students could be eligible to participate in this new partnership. This includes specialties in nursing, radiologic technology, physical therapy assistant, surgical technology and health care administration among others.

He said the dollar amount for the tuition payments will be decided by Comanche County Memorial Hospital and may be dependent on how many graduates accept jobs at the hospital.

Melissa Craft, interim dean of University of Oklahoma’s College of Nursing, said OU is also working to meet workforce needs by expanding the number of students accepted into the school’s nursing program.

In a 2022 OU news release, the Oklahoma Nurses Association reported that the state had 712 nurses per 100,000 residents, which ranked Oklahoma 46th in the nation in terms of nurses per capita.

“Our qualifications for application and what would make someone an eligible student have always kept the same. What we changed was our ability to accept,” Craft said. “The goal is still that we accept all qualified applicants.”

Craft said “health care is needed everywhere,” not just in Oklahoma’s metro areas.

She said OU works with five regional sites in Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Lawton, Duncan and Norman to provide nursing students with hands-on learning experiences, like the SWOSU students.

But beyond the learning experience, Craft said partnering with regional hospitals helps the students find and build a community with those they work with and the patients they serve.

“Nursing is about relationships … we know that if we can partner with a facility and the nursing students, while they’re in school, can feel like they are a part of that community the chance that students will go to work there is really very, very high,” Craft said.

She said that OU graduates more nursing students than “anyone else” and while it’s an honor, “we graduate them for the workforce of Oklahoma.”

Craft said that in 2020, OU’s College of Nursing graduated 313 nurses. In 2024, that number has grown to 456 nurses.

She said that OU offers financial assistance to qualifying nursing students through various grants. The Nurse Faculty Loan Program offers loan forgiveness to nurses who go on to educate the next generation of nurses after graduation. The Oklahoma Workforce Innovations and Nursing offers financial assistance to dozens of advanced practice nursing students per year.

Oklahoma Voice is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oklahoma Voice maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janelle Stecklein for questions: info@oklahomavoice.com. Follow Oklahoma Voice on Facebook and X.

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