A recent survey report conducted by AMN Healthcare noted that 90 percent of health system CEOs see nursing shortages as their most pressing workforce challenge. Two Florida healthcare systems and the University of Central Florida College of Nursing have come together to address their state’s nursing shortage.
UCF’s new Pegasus Partners program offers opportunities for select partners to engage across the university in ways that create meaningful value for both organizations. That engagement includes talent development and recruitment, shared research projects, joint ventures and collaborations, and strategic philanthropy. AdventHealth and Orlando Health are its inaugural Pegasus Partners.
Fueled by $10 million in combined commitments from AdventHealth and Orlando Health, the UCF College of Nursing has moved a step closer to a new building at Lake Nona that will enable the college to graduate hundreds of additional nurses annually who will care for patients throughout the region and state. The new building also will expand the college’s capacity to educate future nursing faculty members who are needed to teach the nurses of tomorrow.
AdventHealth and Orlando Health have each committed $5 million to support those efforts as well as to provide tuition assistance and additional paid internships for UCF nursing students.
AdventHealth and Orlando Health employ more than 12,000 nurses combined at a total of 34 hospitals across Central Florida. Both systems will rely on UCF to help prepare the additional talent they need to combat the national nursing shortage and expand their workforces.
“Ensuring we have well-educated, highly trained and skilled nurses to meet Florida’s growing health care needs is a pressing challenge for the entire health care sector,” said Randy Haffner, CEO of AdventHealth Florida, in a statement. “Partnering with leading educational institutions such as UCF is absolutely vital to ensuring these efforts are successful.”
“Like many healthcare systems across the state and the nation, Orlando Health constantly evaluates and adjusts strategies in order to deliver exceptional patient care,” said Karen Frenier, senior vice president, human resources and chief nurse executive, Orlando Health, in a statement. “We are excited about our long-term partnership with UCF as we continue to strategically plan nursing workforce opportunities for the future.”
UCF currently graduates more newly licensed RNs annually than any other institution in the State University System, with approximately 260 UCF nurses entering the workforce each year. Almost all of them — 85 percent of the 16,000 nursing alumni — live and work in Florida.
Last year, the College of Nursing added 100 students beyond its usual enrollment to help keep pace with the state’s demand for new nurses. The new building is needed for the additional enrollment growth, and when complete, the 90,000-square-foot building will be large enough for the college to increase enrollment by at least 50 percent to make a much bigger impact in helping to alleviate the state’s nursing shortage.
