Hartwick Receives $250K Grant for Nursing Program

Hartwick College is the recipient of a $250,000 grant, payable over two years, from the Clark Foundation.

The funding will be used to acquire the next generation of distance education and simulation equipment for the Hartwick Department of Nursing to help address an ongoing need for nurses in rural parts of the state.

Data from the New York State Bureau of Labor indicate that the demand for registered nurses in the state will exceed the supply by 37,000 by the year 2015.

Only 8 percent of New York State’s registered nurses work in rural counties. According to the Hospital Association of New York, registered nurses are the most difficult health care positions to retain, and rural health care organizations have greater difficulty attracting and retaining nurses.

At Bassett Healthcare Network, the vacancy rate has climbed from a low of 5 percent to 11 percent over the last year and is expected to return to the pre-recession level of 15 percent.