A $2 million Department of Labor grant is expected to help ease the nursing shortage in Southwest Virginia.

The money is going to expand nursing and other health-related programs at four community colleges across the region. Mountain Empire Community College, Southwest Virginia Community College, Virginia Highlands Community College, and Wytheville Community College will each benefit from the money.

“It’s a unique opportunity for the community as a whole and for the community college system as a whole,” said Heather Musick, director of Southwest Virginia Healthcare Workforce Development Consortium.

Musick said the expansion will make it easier for many people in the region to complete their degrees without traveling a great distance every day. Each college will use the money to build new laboratories and hire new faculty members.

Applications are now being accepted on each campus.

Kathy Mitchell, Dean of Nursing at Virginia Highlands Community College, said such an opportunity doesn’t come along very often.

“I always encourage people who think they may be interested in health care to go for it, because they can get a job wherever they want to get a job,” Mitchell said.

A total of 252 new medical professionals are expected to graduate and fill vacant positions throughout the region. Anyone interested in applying for admission should contact the college they are interested in attending. Classes for these expanded programs begin next fall.

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This entry was posted by Taman Siswa on Thursday, December 20, 2007 at 7:25 pm and is filed under College Grant. Tags: College, Grant, . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.