NOVA Medical Campus Hosts U.S. Senator Tim Kaine to Discuss Healthcare Funding
On Monday, September 25, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine celebrated the $2.2 million of federal funding he secured for NOVA’s Medical Education Campus (MEC). The senator visited the MEC for a tour and was a part of a roundtable discussion hosted by Provost Shelly Powers and President, Anne M. Kress, in which students, providers and faculty members were invited to talk about health priorities .
The FY23 Government Funding Bill will provide funding for the MEC to expand its nursing program. It will help increase the number and diversity of skilled nurses entering the workforce and be used to purchase state-of-the-art technology to support clinical training for nursing, respiratory therapy and EMS students. The roundtable also addressed how to best support and grow the healthcare workforce—one of Kaine’s top priorities as a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee.
Represented on the roundtable were:
- Charemon Brooks, Interim Dean of Nursing
- Professor Jennifer Turner, Nursing Faculty
- Professor Angela Brocker, Nursing Faculty
- Gloria Greenwalt, LPN- RN student
- Mary Gwaltney, LPN- RN student
- Chelsea Hendon, RN student
- Marie Elizabeth Hollandais Loustau, RN student
- Stephanie Barnes, Sentara Medical Center
- Christy Grabus, CNO Sentara Medical Center
- Professor Wanda Gardner, EMS Program Director
- Kevin Gudiel Najarro, RTH student
- Professor Sherleen Bose, RTH Program Director
NOVA students shared heartwarming stories about their call to save lives and discussed their commitment to pursue nursing. They talked about their backgrounds and about what changes they would like to see in the profession.
“For my perspective, some of the things that have been challenging in nursing in general– in addition to the shortage–but things I see on my level – are things like not enough tuition forgiveness programs to encourage people to go into health, “said Mary Gwaltney, LPN-RN Student. “And also, [I would like to see] support of our local libraries because that is where a lot of adult students like us – who have kids at home, who have a lot of stuff going on at home learn. We retreat to our community libraries to have space, to have quiet to study and sometimes for internet access.”
“I am thankful I was able to come into this program when I did, as so much has changed from COVID.” said Chelsea Hendon, RN Student. “I worked as a firefighter/EMT before the start of COVID, and we were still short on staff for firefighters, paramedics, and I mean, at every level.”
“We need more funding to be able to bring professors in, and clinical instructors,” continued Hendon. Our student-to-faculty ratio is very high in clinicals, and it would be great to bring that ratio down a little bit.”
Most recently, the Senate HELP Committee passed the Bipartisan Primary Care and Health Workforce Act, which would reauthorize programs critical for improving access to quality healthcare and help address health workforce shortages across the country.
Submitted by:
Hoang Nguyen, Assoc. Director of External Comms., HDNguyen@nvcc.edu