UNC Greensboro Nursing School Receives $715K
The University of North Carolina Greensboro's School of Nursing has received a $715,000 investment from the UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of North Carolina. The funding is intended to help increase access to health care in rural parts of the state.
- The investment will fund the purchase of a second "Minerva's Mobile Health" van, which provides healthcare to underserved communities in eight counties: Alamance, Caswell, Davidson, Davie, Forsyth, Guilford, Randolph, and Rockingham. - With the new van and additional staff, the mobile clinic will expand its operations from four to six days a week, aiming to serve an additional 1,000 clients annually. - This expansion will also double the number of nursing students who gain practical experience through the mobile clinic, increasing the number from 314 to over 600. - The initiative addresses a critical need, as North Carolina is projected to have a shortage of nearly 12,500 registered nurses by 2033. - This funding follows a recent $2.4 million award to the UNCG School of Nursing from the UNC System Office to increase student enrollment and help combat the statewide nursing shortage. - The School of Nursing, led by Dean Debra Barksdale, has also recently received other significant grants, including a nearly $2.6 million grant to prepare more nurse practitioners for primary care in underserved areas and a $3.7 million grant in partnership with Cone Health for mobile health units. - UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of North Carolina has a history of investing in health equity initiatives, including a recent $400,000 investment in a project supporting families impacted by substance use disorder. - The investment aligns with UNCG's focus on health sciences, a field where the university has seen a 12% enrollment increase in its School of Nursing.
