ULM is expanding its health science offerings, thanks to a grant of more than $2 million from the Louisiana Department of Health through the Rural Transformation Project. Dr. Wendy Bailes, the dean of the ULM College of Health Sciences, says the grant will allow the school to provide well-educated medical professionals to rural hospitals.
“They’re desperately needed in our rural areas, because they struggle in those hospitals to recruit. They wind up having to contract; it becomes very expensive,” Bailes said.
Dr. Bailes says one of the three initiatives of the grant is to increase nursing school enrollment.
“The grant allows for us to hire additional faculty to maintain our ratios, so we will be admitting 40 additional students per year,” Bailes noted.
Bailes says the grant will allow ULM to expand its capacity in its health science college.
“They already turn multiple students away. This opens up opportunities for us to admit additional students into our programs, versus having to turn them away for another semester. So it’s a win for everyone,” Bailes explained.
The other two initiatives are adding a Diagnostic Medical Sonography concentration to the Bachelor of Science in Radiological Technology program and establishing a Nurse Residency Hub serving rural hospitals in northeast Louisiana.