By TESA CULLI

tesa.culli@register-news.com

MT. VERNON — A collaborative effort between area hospitals and colleges through Connect Southern Illinois has resulted in a new hybrid online nursing degree program that is designed to help alleviate a nursing shortage in Southern Illinois.

“We are very excited about our partnership with ConnectSI to promote the development and retention of qualified registered nurses in Southern Illinois,” stated Tom Blythe, the vice president of human resources for St. Mary’s Good Samaritan. “As a result of this partnership, we are confident there will be a sufficient number of nurses available to provide excellent patient care to the citizens of Southern Illinois in the future.”

Ed Cunningham, the CEO of Crossroads Community Hospital and a member of the Rend Lake College Board, said the online program is a positive in a flagging economy.

“We have a lot of people coming back into the workforce as our economy is changing,” Cunningham said. “Parents are changing careers and trying to better themselves, and trying to do that while working to support a family is almost impossible. ... They may not be able to complete the clinical portion of the degree online, but when you are looking at driving 20 to 30 miles back and forth to class, have small kids and work, that’s hard. Online they can take the classes when they have the time and we get good, qualified nurses.”

The key to the hybrid-online associate nursing program under development is cooperation between the private and public sector in business and education.

ConnectSI, a group of regional partners which include healthcare providers, educators, workforce development providers and state agencies has been meeting for several years to address workforce issues in Southern Illinois. The Southern Illinois Online Nursing Initiative was formed by the organization as a possible solution to the nursing shortage in the region.

“Unfortunately, there are many challenges affecting the supply of these caregivers, including the lack of faculty, the lack clinical space and one factor not typically considered — the out-migration of educated nurses from the region,” information from ConnectSI states. “SIONI is the centerpiece of the region’s ‘grow your own’ strategy. SIONI is a hybrid-online associate nursing program that has been designed for working licensed practical nurses. The goal of this initiative was to develop a program that would provide working nurses who have strong ties to the region an opportunity to advance their education and become an RN.”

According to ConnectSI, community colleges, including Rend Lake College, will work in collaboration with local Workforce Investment Act providers to identify working LPN’s who would like to participate in the initiative and be able to negotiate agreements with local healthcare providers to pay a significant portion of their staff’s training costs through incumbent worker training programs. Incumbent worker programs offer employers matching funds to lower the cost of providing education to their employees, with results in higher skilled and more valuable employees, according to ConnectSI.

Six colleges in Southern Illinois will be participating in the program: Rend Lake College, Frontier Community College, John A. Logan College, Shawnee Community College, Southeastern Illinois College and Wabash Valley College. Each participating college plans to accept 10 students this fall to begin the program in spring 2010.

Anyone interested in the program is encouraged to contact the college to find out about the prerequisites to the program. Employers interested in helping employees pay for the program through the incumbent worker training funds may contact Cary Minnis at 998-0970, ext. 211 or by e-mail at caryminnis@mantracon.org.