New hospitals, regional growth exacerbate nursing shortage.

Date published: 7/8/2007

BY TESS HAMILTON

Their hospitals don't even have walls yet, but MediCorp Health System and HCA Virginia already are making sure they will have nurses.

The Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center and the Stafford Hospital Center are not expected to open until 2009, but nurse recruitment programs have been under way since the facilities were artistic renderings.

The state health commissioner approved the hospitals last August amid concerns that explosive regional growth and congested traffic are limiting access to medical services and overloading key departments at Mary Washington Hospital.

With more access, however, comes the need for more health professionals to staff the 100- and 126-bed facilities--particularly nurses.

MediCorp, which is building the Stafford hospital, said it would need 80 nurses. HCA Health Services, the owner of the Spotsylvania facility, is looking for around 100.

These new hospitals are coming at a time when facilities around the country are struggling to find nurses. In 2006, there were about 118,000 vacant RN positions in American hospitals. And researchers predict a national shortage of 340,000 to 1 million registered nurses by 2020.

Virginia has not escaped the shortages. The Virginia Partnership for Nursing reports that both admissions to nursing programs and the number of nursing graduates has fallen steadily over the last five years.

Every year, Virginia hospitals lose about 18 percent of their registered nurses, with fewer candidates to replace them. At this rate, VPN predicts that, within six years, the demand for nurses in Virginia will be 30% larger than the supply, as the demand for medical services increases.

This climate and the needs of these new hospitals have left many wondering where the nurses will come from.

And will there be enough?

MediCorp has already started considering possible transfers to the new facility, and will base its recruitment goals on how many current nurses choose to transfer.

The company also has started recruiting at colleges and national conferences to fill future vacancies at Mary Washington and build interest in the Stafford Hospital Center.

Using $1 million from the Mary Washington foundation, MediCorp offers scholarships for nursing students, as well as relocation grants, in exchange for a two-year commitment to the company. The program, which began this year, was instituted in anticipation of the new hospital.

Date published: 7/8/2007

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