Mercy, SBU expand health education partnership

A longstanding partnership between Mercy Springfield Communities and Southwest Baptist University is expanding.

Leaders with both organizations took part in a Nov. 9 signing ceremony on Mercy’s campus to finalize the expansion, which is slated to result in SBU adding a bachelor’s in nursing, a bachelor’s registered nurse to Bachelor of Science in nursing completion course, a master’s in nursing and education, an associate degree of health science and a bachelor’s in health science. These are in addition to associate degrees already offered in nursing and radiography. The new programs will be available beginning in January 2024, officials say.

Brittney Hendrickson, dean of SBU’s College of Health Professionals, said the college’s current enrollment is 384, a number they anticipate increasing 10% in the next academic year due to the new programs.

Marie Moore, chief nursing officer at Mercy Hospital Springfield, said discussions to expand the partnership started around July 2022. She said the two entities were intentional about strengthening a nearly 40-year “very fruitful relationship.”

“Something that started as nursing education has since blossomed into a lot more,” she said, noting both Mercy and SBU officials were hearing from students and employees about alternate career paths to nursing. “We started having those conversations about what should this look like and are we limiting ourselves by just focusing on one career path or one program.”

Additionally, as part of the expansion deal, SBU’s College of Health Professions, 4431 S. Fremont Ave., is being renamed the SBU Mercy College of Health Professions. Officials declined to disclose financial terms of the partnership expansion.

“Is there monetary support? Absolutely, but the state of the relationship and how we arrived at the renaming was not through payments or lump sums or a financial investment of what you might traditionally see,” Moore said. “Both of us have invested programs, money, physical assets to make the relationship work.”

Hendrickson said SBU’s administration supports strategic hiring of additional health care faculty for the programs as they grow. However, no plans are in place to immediately hire more beyond the current 27 full-time staff members.

In connection
Mercy and SBU have been partnering since 1986. At the time, SBU entered into a joint nursing education agreement with Mercy, through which SBU nursing students have completed their clinical hours at the Springfield hospital.

Rick Melson, SBU president, said in a news release the expansion of the university’s relationship with Mercy aligns with SBU’s goal to serve as the regional leader in health care education in southwest Missouri.

“This partnership brings together two strong institutions with proven track records of equipping nurses and other health care professionals to ensure that our region has high-quality health care for years to come,” he said in the release.

The need for registered nurses in the state and region is significant, according to a 2023 Workforce Report by the Missouri Hospital Association. The report noted a 17.4% registered nurse vacancy rate in the state and a 16.7% vacancy rate in the Ozark region, which includes Greene County.

Mercy and SBU’s announcement comes a couple months after another partnership between other health care and education organizations was unveiled. CoxHealth, Missouri State University, Ozarks Technical Community College and Springfield Public Schools joined forces in late August to form the Alliance for Healthcare Education, which aims to train health care professionals to serve the region, according to Springfield Business Journal reporting.

Approval from the Higher Learning Commission could take a year or more, officials say, with plans for the new institution calling for the replacement of Cox College after current students graduate. The college will eventually be absorbed into the alliance, which will continue to use the health system’s 70,000-square-foot space at 1423 N. Jefferson Ave, according to past reporting.

Mercy and SBU are not part of the alliance, but officials with the newly formed group noted this summer it has room for more collaborators.

Pipeline boost
SBU graduates roughly 100 students between its nursing and radiography programs each year, said Hendrickson.

Student enrollment for radiography is capped at 24, Hendrickson said, noting the program typically runs at or near capacity.

“For our ASN and ASR programs, we are looking to fill all approved seats for the fall 2024 semester,” she said. That includes 48 students for radiography, as well as 90 students for each semester of the school year.

Health sciences also are a focus of SBU’s fully accredited online program, which launched this fall. SBU Worldwide offers online degree and certificate programs to students. It’s initially offering most of its courses in business administration and health sciences, and both programs provide associate and bachelor’s degrees, along with an MBA.

“We’re excited that we’ve launched our SBU Worldwide campus,” Hendrickson said. “So, we’re looking at expanding some of our programs more in the online market and how we can work with Mercy to do that as well.”

Hendrickson has a professional connection to both organizations, as she began her career as an RN with Mercy in 2008 before moving on to SBU in 2015. However, she didn’t leave nursing behind completely, as she began working part-time with Mercy again in 2020.

“I won’t say it’s a lot, but I spend a few hours a month at the bedside with patients,” Hendrickson said, adding she did all her clinical work with Mercy while a student at SBU.

Moore said the degree programs should strengthen the workforce pipeline for SBU students who get hired by Mercy. She estimated roughly 90% of those who graduate the SBU nursing and radiology programs become local Mercy employees.

“We’ve been very agile in responding to people’s needs from a flexibility perspective and in how we run programs,” Moore said, adding officials wanted to ensure current Mercy employees had ample opportunities to further their education. “That has helped to make it attainable for people to support their work, support their family and also pursue advanced education.”

She said SBU students also choose Mercy because of the support they experience throughout their education.

“We are very intentional to be sure they’re onboarded, and we remove some of those extra steps you have to do when you aren’t already within the system,” Moore said. “Students coming out have the support they need to get started in their profession and feel productive.”