During a trip to North Platte in late July UNMC Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold, MD, signed a master affiliation agreement with Great Plains Health hospital system that will enable UNMC health professions students from all of its colleges to do critically important clinical rotations at GPHealth.
The agreement, Dr. Gold said, underscores UNMC’s efforts to continue to maximize its statewide impact.
“This is an important step forward as UNMC expands its presence in west central Nebraska,” Dr. Gold said. “After years of successful collaboration with GPHealth, this agreement expands our partnership and offers more opportunities to UNMC students in west central Nebraska as we plan for our expansion of educational development programs in this region.”
“We are appreciative of our longstanding partnership with UNMC,” said Ivan Mitchell, Great Plains Health CEO. “GPHealth uses innovative strategies to encourage health care and nursing careers in greater Nebraska. Being able to partner with UNMC on clinical experiences is a key tactic to showing students the rewarding career opportunities that exist in rural Nebraska.”
Dr. Gold said he hoped the agreement, and the expanded rotations, would help address health workforce shortages in western and rural Nebraska. UNMC plans similar agreements with rural and urban health system partners statewide.
Nikki Carritt, interim assistant vice chancellor for health workforce education relations and director of Rural Health Initiatives, said the new agreement is another milestone in UNMC’s longtime commitment to educating and expanding the state’s rural health workforce.
“Evolving and expanding partnerships such as this one will become ever more important as UNMC works to ensure health care access to Nebraska’s rural populations,” she said. “Students that train in rural areas and have welcoming and engaging experiences, both at their clinical training sites and in the communities during those experiences, are more likely to practice there.”
Current programs doing rotations at GPHealth include allied health programs, medicine, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Under the new agreement, students from additional programs will be able to rotate through GPHealth and the North Platte community.
“This helps us create innovative and new learning experiences in partnership with GPHealth as we prepare for our expansion at the University of Nebraska at Kearney and beyond,” Dr. Gold said.
The trip to North Platte and other west central Nebraska communities also provided other UNMC leaders — including Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Dele Davies, MD, interim Vice Chancellor for External Affairs Chris Kratochvil, MD, and UNMC College of Allied Health Professions Dean Kyle Meyer, PhD — a chance to speak to community partners. It also introduced Lepaine Sharp-McHenry, DNP, new dean of the UNMC College of Nursing, to partners, alumni and supporters in the North Platte and Kearney areas.
Dr. Sharp-McHenry called the trip a great introduction to Nebraska.
“From Kearney to Cozad to North Platte, we were welcomed by alums, donors, community leaders, legislators, clinical and educational partners,” she said. “Our last stop was at Mid-Plains Community College, where the staff showcased their new facility and simulation lab.”
The repeated theme throughout the visit, she said, was the need to bolster the rural health care workforce and make educational opportunities more accessible.
“The UNMC College of Nursing is committed to partnering with our rural communities to educate a rural nursing workforce and make our programs more accessible to rural Nebraska,” Dr. Sharp-McHenry said.
Nicely written article about the NP Great Plains collaboration with UNMC. FYI, MMI Psychology and BHECN trained and placed a behavioral health provider, Fran Rieken, MA, into the Great Plains Pediatric clinic about 4 years ago. She was a Chadron Mental Health Counseling graduate who did her internship/practicum with MMI. Her practice with the Peds clinic has been so successful that another clinician has been added and the Hospital is considering opening a program for children with autism spectrum disorders. Several months ago, GP staff traveled to Omaha to look over the ASD programs offered by MMI. There should be many more opportunities for behavioral health collaborations with Great Plains in the future
These continued collaborations are a win-win for everyone. Congratulations to all involved!