A partnership between Oregon Health & Science University, St. Charles Health System and the Central Oregon Community College will enable anyone who has earned a bachelor’s degree to also obtain a Bachelor of Nursing in a 15-month accelerated program.

The deadline to apply to this new program in Bend is April 15. The program starts in July.

Bend will be OHSU’s third location in Oregon to offer the program. Others are in Ashland and Portland. When officials were reviewing the applications, more than 100 had Central Oregon ZIP codes, said Joan Ching, St. Charles Health System vice president and chief of nursing.

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“When we started developing this program, we realized how many students were here, and we heard that a couple commuted weekly or moved to Ashland to attend this kind of program,” Ching said. “Now, they can stay here and don’t have to find housing and already know the community.”

Creating opportunities for people to become registered nurses is a key component to creating a stable workforce. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing predicts that the Western states will experience the most intense nursing shortages in the country as nurses retire or leave the field because of stress. The average wage in Oregon for a registered nurse was $48.97 an hour, according to the Oregon Employment Department.

“We’ve had the desire to figure out how we can better serve Central Oregon and helping meet the workforce needs,” said Susan Bakewell Sachs, OHSU School of Nursing dean. “St. Charles is a key player in this.”

A recent survey of nurse salaries by the Oregon Center for Nurses, a nonprofit workforce center, showed that those with a bachelor’s degree earn $3 an hour more than those with an associate degree.

Graduates of the program would be ready to obtain a registered nurses license or go on to obtain a graduate degree in nursing once they graduate from the program.

Central Oregon Community College does have a nursing program already and will be launching a program next year that will help community college nursing graduates obtain a four-year Bachelor of Science in nursing degree.

“Our campuses are at regional universities. They have the infrastructure and we manage the program,” Bakewell Sachs said. “We have a lead faculty team in Bend. We wanted to focus on adding to the mix of educational opportunities.”

Only eight students will be selected for the new Bend program, Bakewell Sachs said. Oregon State University-Cascades will collaborate to address the needs of the health care workforce in Central Oregon and support the community, said Christine Coffin, OSU-Cascades director of communication & community engagement.

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“The accelerated program, which is well established nationally, draws a lot of second career people into nursing,” Bakewell Sachs said. “We’re excited about this opportunity and hope it ends up good for St. Charles and COCC.”

St. Charles Health System sees the post baccalaureate program as another tool to bolster the nursing workforce, Ching said. Each time a nurse leaves and a new nurse has to be trained, it costs St. Charles about $40,000.

The program will help with retention, she said. Clinical rotations will be done at the acute care units, Ching said.