A new partnership is creating a faster pathway for northwest Georgia students to enter nursing and other health-care careers.
The agreement brings together Murray County Schools, Dalton State College, Georgia Northwestern Technical College, and health-care providers AdventHealth and Hamilton Medical Center to strengthen the region’s health-care workforce pipeline.
Under the partnership, students can begin taking health science prerequisite courses while still in high school and continue their education through degree programs at Dalton State or Georgia Northwestern Technical College.
Jennifer Loudermilk, associate vice president for academic affairs at GNTC, said the collaboration opens the door to several high-demand health-care fields.
“Between GNTC and Dalton State, we currently offer programs in radiology, respiratory care, surgical technology, and the ASN-to-BSN pathway,” Loudermilk said. “We also plan to add business health-care technology, which falls within the health-care field.”
AdventHealth and Hamilton Medical Center will play a role in curriculum development, ensuring programs align with workforce needs. Students will also participate in career exploration activities and have access to industry-recognized certifications. Upon completing their programs, participants are guaranteed job interviews with the partner health-care organizations.
The initiative comes amid ongoing workforce shortages in nursing. Nurses make up the largest segment of the health-care workforce, and shortages are expected to worsen as more nurses retire. The Georgia Nurses Association projects a 21 percent nursing shortage by 2035. Other studies indicate that thousands of qualified applicants are turned away from nursing programs each year due to limited capacity.
Kate Maine, vice president for marketing communications and workforce development at Dalton State College, said recent state funding is helping address those challenges.
“Thanks to recent state funding, we’re able to expand capacity in our nursing programs,” Maine said. “We are adding seats to create more opportunities for prospective students.”
Dalton State has added space for 90 students across several nursing degree pathways and will launch a Bachelor of Science in Nursing program this fall.