The State Board of Nursing has approved Montrose County School District for concurrent enrollment in nurse aide programs at Western Colorado Community College (WCCC).

The program is the same one in place for Mesa County School District 51, which received reaffirmation for the 2019 school year.

Colorado Mesa University President Tim Foster announced the news. “The additional sanctioning of the nurse aide program in Montrose is a huge benefit to high school students in Montrose and the region’s health care community,” Foster said. “We look forward to preparing the next generation of providers and contributing health care excellence and nursing services here in western Colorado.”

The approval of the Montrose program comes on the heels of the announcement of the Master of Physician Assistant Studies at CMU, furthering the goal to expand health care learning in the valley.

WCCC Vice President of Community College Affairs Bridget Sundermann believes the synergy between the two campuses helps high school students prepare for employment in the health field.

“Students who complete courses receive the necessary knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform as a competent nurse aide and prepare to test in the National Nurse Assessment Program to be certified,” Sundermann said.

Between advanced health care degrees at CMU and complementary programs at WCCC, the campuses offer the community a trained, top-to-bottom workforce.

“CMU and WCCC have really created an eco-system of health care training that matches the needs of local health care providers,” Foster said. “From health clubs and rehabilitation centers to clinics and hospitals, WCCC and CMU students will be future providers of health care in a community that has historically experienced shortages in many related fields.”