Understanding "Caring for Missourians"

I recently wrote a piece on the "Caring for Missourians" program that was published in the Southeast Missourian today:

Recently, Gov. Jay Nixon has been promoting the "Caring for Missourians" initiative that he asked the General Assembly to approve this past session. The program diverts $40 million to 26 higher-education institutions to address the ever-thinning health-care professional shortage throughout the state, but it places no specific requirement on universities that the funds be used for "Caring for Missourians." It is the sole discretion of our universities and colleges on how to use these one-time funds.

Funding for "Caring for Missourians" has been appropriated through fiscal year 2010 federal one-time stabilization funds. Southeast Missouri residents will benefit by Southeast Missouri State University receiving $1,166,806, Three Rivers Community College receiving $363,924 and Mineral Area Community College receiving $338,100. Governor Nixon hopes the additional money will be used to train more than 900 additional Missouri students in the field of health care over the next five years. This is a very worthy priority.

It is no secret that our state is in dire need of more health professionals. According to the Nixon administration, Missouri hospitals are facing a shortage of more than 7 percent for registered nurses, 6 percent for pharmacists, 8 percent for both physical and occupational therapists and 7 percent for medical laboratory technicians. The "Caring for Missourians" program stands to not only train and educate medical professionals to meet the drastically high demand for health care, but also to bolster our struggling economy.

You can read the entire article here....