For more information, contact Darnell Holopirek, 620-792-9367.

September 6, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Prepared by: Linda Dueser

Agencies Combine to Match KBOR Grant for New Nursing
Faculty Position at Barton

Four Barton County agencies have contributed funds to match a $38,280 grant awarded to Barton County Community College by the Kansas Board of Regents to provide one additional nursing instructor’s position at the college.

The combined contributions of Central Kansas Medical Center, Clara Barton Foundation, BCCC Foundation Endowment Fund and the Thelma Faye Harms Trust for the BCCC Endowment Fund total more than $25,345 in matching funds for the grant, said Darnell Holopirek, the college’s executive director of Institutional Advancement.

“The college is fortunate to have the support of the community and its medical facilities,” she said. “This enhances our opportunities to keep a supply of good nurses in our own neighborhood.”

The Kansas Board of Regents awarded $600,000 this year in nursing grants to 17 public higher education institutions across the state. Institutions with registered nurse programs were eligible to apply to the board for these funds, which will be used specifically for additional nursing faculty and supplies. Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius initially recommended and the Legislature ultimately approved this funding during the 2007 legislative session.

This grant marks the second year of a 10-year workforce development initiative, which already has allowed public higher education institutions to admit more than 460 additional nursing students, who otherwise would have been forced to remain on admissions waiting lists, said Christine Downey-Schmidt, chair of the Board of Regents.

The 2006 Kansas Legislature appropriated $3.4 million to fund the first year of this 10-year nursing initiative to address the critical nursing shortage facing the state. This initiative allowed Barton last year to put into place a new Patient Simulation Lab with a $75,271 grant from the Kansas Board of Regents, plus one-third matches in funding each from Central Kansas Medical Center, the BCCC Foundation and the college.

The 2007 Legislature appropriated $2 million in funds, which includes the $600,000 awarded to the 17 Kansas institutions for nursing faculty and supplies.

Since funding began in 2006, more than 25 full-time and 23 part-time additional nursing faculty members have been hired, 50 nurse educator service scholarships have been awarded and more than 460 additional nursing students have been admitted into nursing programs statewide. In addition, more than 30 new patient simulators have been purchased, enhancing both student and professional nurse training, thus preparing these nurses to better meet the future health care needs of Kansans.