October 20, 2009
Partnership with public colleges, universities meeting critical need for health care professionals across Missouri
Gov. Nixon highlights Caring for Missourians as program begins training hundreds of new medical professionals
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Gov. Jay Nixon today met with university leaders and students at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Dentistry to announce that the school will accept 17 additional students in its Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) program over the next two years, under funding provided by the new Caring for Missourians Initiative. The University also will increase enrollment in its pharmacy, medicine, accelerated Bachelor's of Science in Nursing (BSN), Master's of Science in Nursing (MSN) and nursing doctorate programs.
At least 471 future medical professionals will begin receiving training at four-year institutions across the state as a result of Caring for Missourians. Hundreds more will receive training at two-year institutions.
"The global economic crisis has left far too many folks out of work, but there will always be high demand for trained, qualified health care professionals," Gov. Nixon said. "In fact, our hospitals and clinics are scrambling to hire additional doctors, nurses, dentists and other practitioners every day. Through caring for Missourians, we are taking a real step toward meeting our state's health care needs, while also giving these folks a leg up in this economy. I appreciate the leadership of our public colleges and universities in implementing this program that will help turn our economy around."
Gov. Nixon spoke at the dental school at UMKC, which will accept 17 additional students to its Doctor of Dental Surgery program. The school will accept five additional students in the fall of 2010 and four additional students each fall in 2011, 2012 and 2013. The Caring for Missourians funds will allow for the construction of additional laboratory space, purchase of equipment and hiring of additional staff. The funds also will help the school develop additional rural rotation sites for student clinical experiences.
Under Caring for Missourians, UMKC also will accept 15 additional students to its Medical School, including nine additional students in the 2009-2010 school year and six more in 2010-2011. In addition, the University will enroll 15 additional students in its pharmacy program during the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 school years.
UMKC's nursing program will benefit significantly from Caring for Missourians as well. The University will increase enrollment in its Accelerated BSN by 10 students per year for two years. With support from Caring for Missourians, the University will permanently increase enrollment in its MSN program to 12 students per year and its nursing PhD program to three students per year.
In addition to the BSN degrees offered at UMKC, the Caring for Missourians program will about 250 nursing degree opportunities at Lincoln University, Missouri State University, Missouri Western State University, Southeast Missouri State University, Northwest Missouri State University, University of Central Missouri, Truman State University, the University of Missouri - Columbia and the University of Missouri - St. Louis.
Those institutions, along with Harris-Stowe State University, Missouri Southern State University, and the Missouri University of Science & Technology, will also expand the number of trainees in their programs in a variety of other health care fields. The Caring for Missourians initiative will allow the state's four-year institutions to train 31 individuals as medical doctors, 17 in dentistry, 14 in occupational or physical therapy, 30 in pharmacy, 13 in cardiology and diagnostic science, 26 in communication science and disorders, and 14 as medical technicians. Some of these seats will be one-time increases, but 118 seats will be permanent expansions of these programs.
Through Caring for Missourians, each of Missouri's two- and four-year public colleges and universities received a specific grant as part of their appropriation for the current fiscal year, which began July 1, 2009. In total, the institutions received a combined $40 million to implement Caring for Missourians. Each institution was responsible for developing a specific plan to maximize the benefit of its share of those funds for expanding the capacity of its health care programs. In total, the UMKC programs received $11.7 million to implement Caring for Missourians.
In future legislative sessions, Gov. Nixon is committed to working with the General Assembly to sustain funding for this program.
"Caring for Missourians invests heavily in our state's workforce while also solving a pressing need for more health care professionals," Gov. Nixon said. "As this program puts more workers in the medical field, it will help keep Missourians healthy while making our economy healthier, too."