04.25.24

Durbin Visits Illinois College to Announce $911,000 for Nursing Program

JACKSONVILLE – U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today visited Illinois College to announce the $911,000 in federal funding he secured through Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS)—more commonly known as an earmark—in the Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) omnibus to expand the school’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program and thereby respond to statewide demand for more highly trained nurses in health care settings, especially in rural Illinois.

“In countless communities across Illinois, access to quality healthcare remains elusive, with shortages of doctors, nurses, and other essential medical personnel,” said Durbin. “The consequences of these shortages are dire, as residents are forced to travel long distances for even basic medical services. This federal funding forIllinois College will cultivate a new generation of compassionate caregivers who are not only prepared to meet the challenges of today, but also dedicated to serving the underserved areas of our state.”

“This funding to expand our nursing program is an investment in Illinois College students to address the critical need for skilled nurses in our region,” said Barbara A. Farley, President of Illinois College. “Opportunities like these inspire students and empower them to make a difference in the world.”

Last May, Durbin unveiled his “Roadmap to Grow Illinois’ Rural Health Workforce”—a partnership with hospitals, community health centers, medical and nursing schools, community colleges, dentists, physicians, and nurses that organizes efforts and provides new funding to address health care workforce shortages and staffing crises in rural Illinois. The Roadmap focuses on: (1) pipelines to recruit middle/high-school students into health careers; (2) expanding capacity of clinical education programs; and (3) enhancing recruitment to rural areas.

Durbin authored a provision in the American Rescue Plan to invest $1 billion into the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) and Nurse Corps, which funds scholarships and loan repayment for new doctors, nurses, dentists, and behavioral health clinicians who commit to serve in rural and urban areas of need. Medical professionals can graduate with student debt of more than $200,000, which can discourage them from pursuing these careers in the first place, or lead to them choosing to practice in high-paying specialties or in more affluent and urban areas. The NHSC program helps build the pipeline of new health providers and surge them to shortage areas. Durbin and U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) also introduced the Restoring America’s Health Care Workforce and Readiness Act to increase the annual NHSC mandatory funding level, and the FY24 appropriations minibus that passed earlier this month included a provision to increase this funding to $364 million (a $54 million increase).

Durbin and U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) introduced the Nurse Faculty Shortage Reduction Act to address the pay gap between clinical and faculty nursing positions—which is the primary economic disincentive fueling the nursing shortage crisis across the country.

-30-