California Endowment Funds $10M Program to Recruit Minority Nurses
The California Endowment on Wednesday launched a three-year, $10 million program that will work with educational, health care and marketing organizations to increase the number of minority nurses in the Central Valley, the Fresno Bee reports (Correa, Fresno Bee, 3/28). The program, called the Central Valley Nursing Work Force Diversity Initiative, was established to help recruit nurses to Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced and Tulare counties, which have largely rural, low-income populations and have a "limited health care infrastructure" (California Endowment release, 3/27). Through the initiative, officials hope to recruit nurses who "accurately and adequately" reflect the regions diverse population, California Endowment President and CEO Dr. Robert Ross said during a news conference Wednesday. Ross said that Hispanics account for 40% of the region's population but less than 5% of the area's nurses. The initiative will pay for 100 to 150 nursing scholarships and will focus on attracting male and minority nursing students (Fresno Bee, 3/28).
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