HURON — A partnership beginning next summer, involving Southeast Technical Institute (SE Tech) of Sioux Falls, the Huron Regional Medical Center (HRMC) Foundation, and other Huron healthcare facilities will enable nurses to continue their education without leaving their homes and jobs.
It sounds like a perfect program for Amanda Grimes.
“I’ve been an LPN (licensed practical nurse) for 10 years now,” said Grimes, who works at HRMC. “Originally, the LPN was meant to be a stepping stone to more. But then, life happened and plans changed.”
Grimes is a single mother and with the need to provide for her family, furthering her education got pushed to the side.
“I couldn’t afford to give up my job to go back to school for my RN (registered nurse). I needed to be able to work and to be a mom.”
The new partnership fits Grimes.
The program, announced Tuesday at the Legacy Plaza Auditorium before a nearly standing room crowd, will offer Huron area LPNs the opportunity to gain their RN, while continuing to work in the Heartland area. The schooling is scheduled to begin in August of 2018
Southeast Technical Institute will offer the classroom lecture portion of the requirements, while the clinical, hands-on work will be done at the Huron Community Campus, at HRMC and other healthcare facilities in Huron.
In 2015, as a result of the announced plans by Dakota Wesleyan University to discontinue its satellite nursing program at the Huron Community Campus, the Huron Nursing Task Force was formed.
“I have had many sleepless nights,” said Laurie Solem, an administrator for SunQuest Healthcare and a member of the task force, “wondering how we were going to overcome the nursing shortage we have here.”

Solem said that she has 22 nurses on staff at the present time, 16 of whom had come through the DWU program. “So we know that having a local program will pay benefits. This announcement is the most encouraging news on this front for years.”
Kristin Possehl, the Nursing Program Director at SE Tech and the president of the S.D. Board of Nursing explained how the program will work to address the shortage of nurses not only in the Heartland area, but statewide.
“Having this program available to allow students to continue working while they participate in the Southeast Tech nursing program will help everyone involved.”
Brooke Sydow, the HRMC Foundation Program Developer explained the specifics of the program.
“Current LPN students will need to have 750 hours of experience to be eligible to apply for the hybrid program,” Possehl said. “In addition, prospective enrollees will need to complete five prerequisite courses - Speech, Sociology or Marriage and Family, Chemistry, Microbiology and Physiology - to qualify. That is why we are announcing this now,” she added, “so students who need these courses will have time to complete them prior to starting the program.”
HRMC President and CEO David Dick noted that he was, “So thankful. This program means so much to me. Our home here is a community and Southeast Tech is now part of our home.”
Sydow also explained how the local scholarship assistance would work.
“Local businesses and healthcare facilities will be able to sponsor scholarships for the program, taking some of the financial burden off the student,” Sydow said. “It will be patterned after the Build Dakota Scholarship, where the scholarship recipient agrees to work for a period of time for the institute that is sponsoring the scholarship.”
Grimes said that HRMC has been very supportive of its staff getting additional education and of this program that will bridge from LPN to RN.
In response to a question, Possehl said that SE Tech has offered similar programs at Yankton, as well as in Chamberlain and Pierre. “The program in Yankton was done similar to what is planned in Huron. In Chamberlain and Pierre, the Simulation Trailer was utilized to facilitate the clinical work.”
The Simulation Trailer was brought to Huron for the press conference and those in attendance were encouraged to tour the trailer and see firsthand how it worked.
Jim Jacobsen, the VP of Academic Affairs at SE Tech, noted that there had been a program that the school completed with Sanford Healthcare in Sioux Falls as well.
Sydow said that there will be community information meetings scheduled in the next few weeks.
Grimes said that she has already begun the steps to complete her enrollment. “I will need to complete the five requirements before next August, as the classes that I took were too long ago, but I am looking forward to this a great deal.”

Photos:

Jim Jacobsen, the Vice President of Academic Affairs for Southeast Technical Institute, shares information on the new hybrid nursing program that was announced Tuesday. Seating behind Jacobsen and also speaking at the announcement are, from left: Paul Rann, the executive direcor of the Huron Regional Medical Center’s Foundation, David Dick, HRMC Preisent and CEO, Laurie Solem, adminstrator for SunQuest Healthcare, Kristin Possehl, Nursing Program Director for SE Tech and the president of the S.D. Board of Nursing and Brooke Sydow, the HRMC Foundation’s Program Director.

Next, David Dick, the President and CEO of HRMC, speaks at Tuesday’s announcement.

And next, Robin Shoultz, center, and Carmen Thies, right, listen to Sara Lease, the RN program coordinator for Southeast Technical Institute describe the Simulation Trailer that will be utilized with the RN nursing program that is beginning between Southeast Technical Institute and Huron Regional Medical Center, as well as other local healthcare providers.

Photos by Angelina Della Rocco/Plainsman