Sep. 25—In the ongoing quest to fill New Mexico’s emaciated medical workforce ranks, one university is looking to reinforce all rungs of the health care ladder, from techs and aides up to advanced practitioners.
Western New Mexico University in Silver City rolled out a new all-online pharmacy technician training program and launched a new recruitment partnership at Silver High School. A new all-online family nurse practitioner program, which requires students to hold a master’s degree in nursing first, should get underway next fall.
And in the near future, said Victor Stephen Gonzales, Jr., the university’s health care workforce programs director, school leaders would like to launch programs to train medical assistants, emergency medical technicians and medical billing and coding specialists.
Meanwhile, the school’s existing medical training programs continue to march forward.
“Our job is to provide a pipeline for the health care profession,” Gonzales told state lawmakers Monday during a meeting of the Legislative Health and Human Services Committee at the university’s Silver City campus.
Gonzales and Kimberly Petrovic, associate dean of WNMU’s School of Nursing and Kinesiology, told lawmakers the school is seeking nearly $1.2 million to support its work expanding rural health care workforce training.
That includes $400,000 for buying virtual reality equipment and other costs for expanding new and existing programs and another $200,000 to support the forthcoming online family nurse practitioner program, among other requests.
Petrovic said the school’s expansions are designed to build up New Mexico’s rural workforce, a need across the state and in southwestern New Mexico.
“This is no secret that we have a dire health care worker shortage,” she said.
Gonzales said school leaders believe new and developing online offerings, including the new 33-credit pharmacy tech program, might be able to serve New Mexicans around the state and in the Silver City area. Gonzales said several major pharmacies have signaled interest in connecting with student in the program.
“We found out that Walmart, CVS, Albertsons, even [Silver City-based Hidalgo Medical Services], they would fully support our program and bringing students to do internships after they completed the required classes, and hopefully be able to provide job security for these students,” he said.
WNMU is also asking the state for $250,000 for its kinesiology institute, a field Petrovic said is a first step for many who become physical therapists.
Committee Chair Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Pino, D-Albuquerque, said the money requested is “kind of out-of-cycle now” as the state budget is already well into its development this year, but joined other lawmakers on the committee in celebrating the update.
Rep. Joanne Ferrary, D-Las Cruces, referenced a recent report from Santa Fe think tank Think New Mexico that proposed a number of fixes for the state’s health care workforce woes, including creation of a $2 billion permanent fund to generate ongoing funds to help support the efforts. She quipped that WNMU’s ask is “way less funding.”
“It seems like you have a really good handle on some different things that would help us” bolster the health care work force, she said. “Investing directly in the schools I think is a really good idea.”
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Publish date : 2024-09-25 15:34:00
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