Milwaukee Area Technical College will receive $2.3 million from the United Health Foundation over the next three years to expand its nursing program.
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- Grant announced at MATC Thursday by Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch alongside Chris Abbott, CEO, UnitedHealthcare of Wisconsin Medicare & Retirement.
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- MATC student Valencia Reyes, Dustin Hinton, president and CEO, UnitedHealthcare of Wisconsin, Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, Chris Abbott, CEO, UnitedHealthcare of Wisconsin Medicare & Retirement, Dr. Vicki J. Martin, MATC president and Anna Greditor, vice president of field operations at Optum.
The grant will allow MATC to double its number of enrolled nursing students beginning in the fall of 2017, and then increase its capacity by an additional 100 students by fall 2019. It will also help pay for 16 new nursing program instructors, the recruitment of low-income students and job placement services for recent graduates.
“This grant from United Health Foundation affirms its commitment to our community and provides us with the
resources needed to identify, recruit, develop and educate the next generation of nurses so desperately needed in the
Milwaukee area and throughout Wisconsin,” said MATC President Vicki Martin.
A joint statement released by MATC and the United Health Foundation said United Health’s decision to issue the grant was influenced by a report published by the Wisconsin Public Policy Forum that concluded the state could face a nurse shortage in the coming years unless the number of registered nurses in the state were to increase by 24 percent by 2020.
“To ensure our health care system is the most modern, innovative and effective in the world requires targeted
investments to develop the next generation of health care workers,” said Dustin Hinton, president and chief executive officer of UnitedHealthcare of Wisconsin. “The partnership between Milwaukee Area Technical College and United Health Foundation is the type of private-public approach we need to address the shortage of nurses in Wisconsin.”
To help with the anticipated increase in MATC nursing students, the school’s partner health care organizations — Aurora Health Care, Ascension Health, Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin and Froedtert Hospital & The Medical College of Wisconsin — will expand their clinical training opportunities.
