Workforce development program fast-tracks Michigan nurses’ training to ease shortages

The Biden-Harris administration’s American Rescue Plan provided Michigan nursing schools and health care centers with much-needed funding to help them invest in the health care workforce. 

Michigan currently faces a nursing shortage, with even more planning to leave the profession. But thanks to new funding from the Biden-Harris administration, the state is providing scholarships and new training programs for students and bringing healthcare workers into high-need positions, especially in under-served and rural areas. 

That funding surge was an intentional policy in direct response to the devastating toll the pandemic took on healthcare workers. 

“We would talk about frontline workers and people would be out on their balconies banging pots to thank them. Well, we need to thank them every day, not just during the height of a crisis, because the work they do is that essential,” Vice President Kamala Harris said earlier this year in support of health care workers. “We owe you, those workers, so much more than applauding you. We owe you more than that structurally and in our system.”

Funding Michigan nursing school programs

Three Michigan universities received Biden-Harris administration funding through the Advanced Nursing Education Workforce (ANEW) Program, which helps increase the number of practicing primary care nurses, clinical specialists, certified midwives and other high-demand fields. 

• Grand Valley State University: $2.6 million to train 39 new students working in underserved/rural communities.
• Saginaw Valley State University: $2.6 million to train 31 nurses in psychiatric mental health care and 200 students in rural health equity.
• Wayne State University (WSU): $2.6 million to support 72 graduate nursing students working in urban communities.

The WSU College of Nursing Clinical Instructor, Nicole Wheeler, DNP, CNM, explained the significance of this funding: “[It supports] our goal to increase the number of family nurse practitioners and psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioners trained to serve Michigan’s urban underserved populations, and to increase the diversity of the nursing workforce in Michigan … It directly supports our graduate students and the mission of our college by creating a diverse student body prepared to be leaders working to improve health in local communities.”

Michigan also received funding for nurse faculty loans and nurse anesthetist training. See all awards here.

Success in Michigan

In 2021, the Biden-Harris administration passed the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), which provided vital financial support to communities and families suffering from COVID-19 in Michigan. No Republicans voted in favor of the bill, and Vice President Kamala Harris cast the tiebreaking vote in the US Senate to make it law.

Michigan used this funding to help recover and strengthen public health care. Here are some highlights:

• $133 million total given to 39 health centers.
• $300 million dedicated to health care worker recruitment, retention, training.
• 70,000 health care workers supported.

“[ARPA] invested a significant amount of money … That went towards all sorts of projects whether it was retention bonuses for existing staff, or trying to grow that pipeline,” said Adam Carlson, senior vice president of advocacy at Michigan Health & Hospital Association. “We have hospitals in Michigan that created new programs of scholarships and partnerships with higher education to try and get individuals into the talent pipeline [for health care].”

Learn more about how the American Rescue Plan’s benefits are impacting you and your community here.