Medford-based healthcare nonprofit La Clinica is starting a nurse practitioner residency program, one of only a few in Oregon, as part of an initiative to ensure a strong healthcare workforce within La Clinica and around the community.
New nurse practitioner graduates from around the country can apply for the year-long training position and emerge fully prepared to serve patients in a variety of settings. Nurse practitioners are licensed practitioners who can work independently of physicians in Oregon and are increasingly filling the role of the patient’s primary provider in healthcare settings as physician shortages increase across the nation.
“We recognize that there’s often a post-school period when new nurse practitioners really need additional training to get up to speed and be able to start contributing as full members of a clinic’s staff,” said La Clinica Chief Medical Officer Chris Alftine, an internist. “In this program, they’ll learn what they need to know, help us serve our patients, and benefit the larger community when they decide to stay and practice here.”
La Clinica is accepting as many as six new nurse practitioners into the program in its first year and will build the program over several years. Applications for the program that starts in October are open here now.
Post-graduate residencies are common in many parts of medicine, but they are relatively new for nurse practitioner graduates. A national organization, the Consortium for Advanced Practice Providers, began offering accreditation in 2016 and lists one other Oregon primary care nurse practitioner training site, in the Portland area, on its website. La Clinica will apply to be the second.
The new program is part of a larger workforce training initiative within La Clinica’s The Learning Well education and support service. The initiative’s aim is to contribute to a strong workforce for La Clinica and the larger community, which long has been designated a healthcare worker shortage area. As part of the workforce training initiative, The Learning Well is building training programs for dental, medical, and mental health assistants; internships; mentorships; and coaching programs.
“La Clinica’s nurse practitioner residency program is in response to the critical need for well supported and confident primary care providers,” said Susan Hearn, officer for The Learning Well, La Clinica’s education and support service. “New graduate nurse practitioner residents receive coordinated training with clinical experience in primary and specialty settings, gradually increasing the number and complexity of their patients. Primary care longevity and satisfaction increase with this added year of training.”
La Clinica is applying for two federal grants this spring to help in the program’s launch. One provides scholarships for nurse practitioner students and the other supports the program.
接触： Susan Hearn，Learning Well 负责人，541-494-4828， shearn@laclinicahealth.org; Julie Wurth, communications officer, 541-512-3153 or 541-840-6513, jwurth@laclinicahealth.org
关于La Clinica
La Clinica 在 29 个地点提供以健康为中心的医疗、牙科、心理健康和物质使用障碍护理：六个初级保健中心、一个 Acute Care Clinic、East Medford Dental Clinic、19 个校本中心、一个移动中心和一个学习中心。虽然 La Clinica 的使命是为低收入人群提供服务，但它也向所有人开放。La Clinica 成立于 1989 年，旨在满足杰克逊县流动和季节性农场工人的初级和预防性护理需求。2001 年，为了满足对负担得起的初级保健日益增长的需求，La Clinica 扩大了服务范围，为社区的每一位成员提供服务。所有服务均不考虑患者的支付能力，并针对无保险和低收入人群按比例收费。
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