Good Samaritan partners with Ivy Tech Evansville, Terre Haute to expand enrollment, train more nurses
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Good Samaritan Hospital in Vincennes is investing $300,000 at Ivy Tech Community College campuses in Evansville and Terre Haute to train more nurses and other health care employees for the workforce.
The partnership will support campus renovations, develop talent pipelines and expand student enrollment at each campus to help fill the gap in skilled medical workers.
Daniela Vidal, chancellor at Ivy Tech Evansville, told Inside INdiana Business the shortage of health care workers in southwestern Indiana is the primary motivation behind the partnership. Good Samaritan “reached out because, like many other hospitals in more rural areas, they’re very interested in our expansion program as they’re in dire need of nursing and health care personnel in general,” she said.
The funds are already being put to use in Evansville. Lab renovations are underway, and marketing efforts are being developed to increase the awareness of health care career opportunities in the region. “This partnership will help build a stronger pipeline of students, which leads to a stronger pipeline of workforce, a healthier community and higher paying jobs,” Vidal said.
In Terre Haute, funding will also be used to help eliminate personal or financial barriers experienced by nursing students, according to Rachel Mullinnix, executive director of development and strategic initiatives at Ivy Tech Terre Haute.
“By growing and expanding the capacity of our nursing program and providing additional support services to nursing and health care students, we’ll see an increase in highly skilled graduates ready to begin careers at places like Good Samaritan,” she said.
Ivy Tech graduates the highest number of associate-level nurses in the nation annually, according to Mullinnix. That’s why Rachel Spalding, chief nursing officer at Good Samaritan, believes the college is an excellent source for recruiting health care employees. However, limited enrollment capacity makes it difficult to meet worker demand. Spalding expects this investment will help overcome that obstacle.
“This partnership looks at how we help invest in the school of nursing. How we are able to expand their teaching and instruction space. That we’re able to provide more seats. To help with faculty increases. To say that we won’t ever turn away a nursing student,” she said.
‘Desperate for nurses’
According to the Indiana Hospital Association, the state must graduate 1,300 additional nurses annually until 2030 to meet the state’s current health care needs. “The hospitals are all desperate for nurses,” Vidal said. “We usually have more qualified applicants than available spots in the program.”
However, it’s not just nurses who are in demand, according to Gail Lindsey, assistant professor and school of nursing dean at Ivy Tech Evansville. “The age of the nurses is increasing, and we did see nurses step away from the bedside, especially after COVID,” she said. “But when we look at health care as a whole, other gaps need to be filled, such as paramedics and medical assisting surgical techs.”
Spalding said Ivy Tech has been at the forefront of increasing enrollment in nursing programs. The college helped with legislation passed in 2022 that enabled nursing schools to hire more part-time faculty and allow students to do more simulations for clinicals. “Ivy Tech recognized the need to admit more students into nursing programs,” she said. “About 80,000 qualified applicants are turned away across the country because there aren’t enough seats and faculty.”
Ivy Tech Evansville and Terre Haute stood out as ideal investments for Good Samaritan because the nearby campuses teach all health sciences that match the hospital’s job openings. “It’s not only nursing but radiology, laboratory, paramedic sciences. They offer a multitude of those health care programs that we need—because we need them all,” Spalding said.
Spalding also emphasized Ivy Tech’s stellar performance on the National Council Licensure Examination, saying the college maintains one of the highest passage rates on the nurse licensure exam. “We know their students are successful at not only passing their program but also achieving their license so they can be gainfully employed. Their outcomes speak for themselves,” she said.
Adding resources to admit more students
To take in more students, Ivy Tech Evansville is using part of Good Samaritan’s funds to expand the School of Nursing and School of Health Sciences. Projects include creating labs and adding equipment.
“Paramedic is getting a new lab,” Lindsay said. “They’ve purchased an ambulance simulator, which will allow students to walk into the back of that ambulance and feel what it’s like to work in those compact conditions before they start working in an actual ambulance.”
The partnership will also allow the college to add faculty positions and use some of Good Samaritan’s staff as adjuncts.
“Part of this funding will help us be more competitive in our salary so we can attract additional faculty members to help us grow the program,” Vidal said. “It’s a high-demand career, and the private sector has much higher compensation rates. So being able to have the funds to offer better compensation, incentives, it’s hugely beneficial.”
With more space and additional instructors, Ivy Tech can accept more students who want to pursue health care careers. “We’re expanding about 25% in our enrollment capacity in our program so we can graduate more nurses and be able to satisfy that job demand,” Vidal said.
“It will increase the number of students that we can serve throughout this area,” added Lindsay.
In addition, the investment will help raise awareness about opportunities for students to earn a certificate in health care before graduating high school. “Reaching out to different population areas around Knox County and the high schools, really targeting those students as they’re looking at what their next steps are going to be and providing great opportunities to have a rewarding career,” said Vidal.
“Through campus visits and tours of the renovated facilities, prospective students will better understand the many varieties of health care programs we offer and careers that are available to them, better attracting a pipeline of skilled workers for Good Samaritan,” added Mullinnix.
‘Workers who will stay in the region’
With Good Samaritan’s investment, Ivy Tech will be better equipped to graduate more students and provide various paths for health care jobs. “Students who come here can start a career ladder, and not just in nursing, in several of our health care fields,” said Lindsay.
“They offer many flexible options for students regardless of their situation. They have tutors and so many resources to help students be successful,” Spalding added.
About 85% of Ivy Tech graduates stay in their region, according to Mullinnix, which means Good Samaritan and other southwestern Indiana hospitals can expect to see direct benefits. “We are producing health care workers who will stay in the region and have an impact on those areas of health care that need help at this point,” Lindsay said.
The return on investment becomes even greater when you consider the majority of Ivy Tech students don’t stop with an associate degree.
“They’re going to get a bachelor’s degree. They’re going to get a master’s degree,” Lindsay said. “They can be working in the field and impacting that shortage while they are also working on a terminal degree in order to, at some point, step back and do something else, such as management or education.”
“Some of them can even come back and teach for me. I have several faculty on my staff right now who have graduated from Ivy Tech,” she added.
Ultimately, Spalding believes support for the health care workforce is a two-way street. Hospitals need help acquiring nurses, and colleges need help preparing candidates.
“Ivy Tech has the ability to find those folks to help us fill that gap in skilled workers and ensure that we continue to grow and that new industries are attracted to our region and that those communities thrive from that,” she said.
“When the health of our nurses and health care workforce is good, the health of our communities is good,” added Spalding.