🔒Filling a gap: Arizona nursing college eyes East Hartford campus amid industry worker shortage

An Arizona-based nursing college is looking to tap into the Connecticut market for growth and help the state address its healthcare workforce shortage, which some say has reached a crisis stage.

The Arizona College of Nursing has signed a lease to occupy 30,000 square feet of space in an East Hartford office building at 99 East River Drive, where it plans to open its first Connecticut campus next year.

The school, which was founded in 1991 and currently enrolls 4,254 nursing students across 11 campuses in eight states, is going through the Connecticut approval process, which could take six to nine months. It has filed an application to begin operations in Connecticut with the state Office of Higher Education.

And it’s one of only a few higher-ed institutions in recent years that has applied to enter the Connecticut market with a brick-and-mortar presence.

Healthcare officials say the entrance of a new college would be welcome news as the industry sorts through a nursing shortage that is sweeping the nation. It’s estimated 1.2 million new registered nurses are needed nationally to address the labor gap.

“I’m extremely excited that they plan on coming to Connecticut,” said Christine Laprise, vice president of operations at Bristol Hospital, which is currently looking to hire nurses for various roles. “Anytime we have another avenue to be able to grab some talent is a good thing. Because there is a nursing shortage, it’s now starting to look like a needle in a haystack for a nursing candidate when years ago we had to say ‘no’ to someone. I’m really happy to see more opportunities to bring talent to our organization.”

Diverse population

The Arizona College of Nursing has proposed to launch an accelerated three-year, 120-credit bachelor’s degree program in East Hartford similar to what it offers at its 11 other nursing schools throughout the country. The Connecticut location would be the school’s first New England outpost.

If all goes as planned, upwards of 32 students would be enrolled at the East Hartford campus in the first year, starting in May 2023, according to the application. The school said its goal would be to enroll about 285 pupils by the end of year five. The nursing school would offer both virtual and in-person classes and hire 18 new faculty over the next three years.

The college said it chose East Hartford for its diversity.

“One-quarter of the population in East Hartford alone is Black or Asian,” the school said in its application. “This multiracial, multilingual, and ethnically-diverse population will have different needs, including language and cultural requirements that must be met by the education and healthcare systems. [Arizona College of Nursing] is well positioned to serve the diverse potential student population, to prepare graduates, not only to serve the diverse population’s healthcare needs, but to also increase the registered nursing diversity, mirroring the population they serve.”

The application notes that the typical Arizona College of Nursing student is 25 years of age or older, “mirroring the population of Hartford.” Additionally, between 20% and 40% of the school’s student population nationwide (depending on the campus) is white, with the remainder of students coming from diverse backgrounds, the school said.

The cost to attend the Arizona College of Nursing varies depending on the campus, officials said. At some campuses, the cost is $808 per credit hour, or nearly $100,000 to complete the three-year accelerated program. However, tuition rates for the planned East Hartford campus have not been set, officials said.

According to the school’s application, students in year one would start the bachelor’s degree program with eight-week general education courses in biology, psychology, human development and cultural diversity and global health, among other topics.

Students would wrap up their general and healthcare foundational courses in the second year and then embark on their first clinical experience, according to the application.

The third and final year entails specialty and advanced classes, as students work alongside medical professionals and gain caregiving experience during clinical rotations.

Arizona College of Nursing spokesperson Melany Stroupe said the college wouldn’t comment on its Connecticut expansion “until we have the necessary approvals.”

Additional capacity

Connecticut’s nursing workforce shortage remains in a crisis stage due to a variety of factors, including the lasting effects of working during the pandemic, nurses aging into retirement, compensation issues, and a shortage of college faculty to train the next generation.

A new nursing school in the state will not solve the crisis, but could help alleviate some of the shortage, experts said.

“We welcome the Arizona College of Nursing. They have a good reputation and they should give us some additional seating capacity for RN students in the state so we can educate them,” said Marcia Proto, executive director of the Connecticut League for Nursing and Connecticut Center for Nursing Workforce.

Many in-state hospitals are expected to jump at the opportunity to partner with the school, experts said.

Laprise, of Bristol Hospital, said her organization hasn’t yet contacted the school, but does plan to reach out.

Laprise said Bristol Hospital, which competes for talent with much larger players like Hartford Hospital, already has working partnerships with many of the state’s two- and four-year schools, and some of its staff teaches at Quinnipiac University.

Many colleges in Connecticut offer a nursing program but have been challenged to find enough faculty to meet student demand, partially because care providers often have to take a pay cut to transition to the classroom. Finding faculty could be a challenge for the Arizona College of Nursing.

In East Hartford, Goodwin University also offers nursing programs.

Kelli-Marie Vallieres, chief workforce officer for Gov. Ned Lamont since 2018, said a new nursing college in East Hartford would go a long way toward boosting the local economy.

“Anytime you bring in an educational institution into a city or town, you attract students – many who live locally – from the region,” Vallieres said. “We want them to learn in Connecticut and we want them to earn in Connecticut.”

Vallieres said it’s vital that the new nursing school is located in a predominantly minority community.

“Having the college in East Hartford will allow us to make sure we are bringing underrepresented people into the profession,” she said. “We’d like to have more men and more people of color and more people in the underserved community engaged in the higher educational process.”