Alfond grant will help fund program to train nurses

Courtesy / Saint Joseph's College Saint Joseph's College in Standish has received a $1.5 million challenge grant from the Harold Alfond Foundation to address critical shortages in Maine's nursing workforce.

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By Staff

Saint Joseph’s College in Standish received a $1.5 million challenge grant to address critical shortages in Maine’s nursing workforce.

The grant, from the Harold Alfond Foundation, will be applied toward the creation of a new Center for Nursing Excellence at Saint Joseph’s, the college announced Tuesday. For its part, the college plans to raise $3.5 million to match the Alfond grant.

“This Alfond donation pertains to far more than the nursing program,” said Saint Joseph’s College President James Dlugos. “This gift will have a major impact on the entire campus as the Center for Nursing Excellence entails renovation of Mercy Hall, one of the cornerstones of our campus and academic community.”

A substantial portion of Maine’s nursing workforce, 43%, is at or approaching retirement age. The crisis is more pronounced among nursing educators, with 74% reaching retirement age, the college said.

“With Maine’s aging population, the need to provide healthcare services for our seniors will continue to grow. It is critical that we support in-state programs such as the Center for Nursing Excellence at Saint Joseph’s College to ensure that we have a strong, growing, well-trained workforce to meet these needs,” Jeanne S. Paquette, commissioner of the Maine Department of Labor, said in the college’s announcement.

The Center for Nursing Excellence will focus on five areas:

Expansion of the College’s longstanding on-campus and online nursing education program from BSN and MSN degrees to include Doctor of Nursing Practice and Acute Care Nurse Practitioner programs;

Expansion to five cutting-edge SIM laboratories (hospital and home-care settings);

Renovation and enhancement of anatomy and physiology, and microbiology labs, which are used by nursing majors;

Expansion of nursing scholarship opportunities for Maine students;

Creation of a Nursing Advising And Collaborative Learning Center, an entire floor dedicated to students needs — including advising offices, a conference room and a collaborative learning space.

Saint Joseph’s College, which was founded in 1912 by the Sisters of Mercy, is Maine’s only Catholic liberal arts college. It is based on a 474-acre campus in Standish, on Sebago Lake. The college’s nursing program has 1,226 students, including 294 who are on campus; the balance are pursuing a degree online. Overall, the school has 1,000 students on campus.