$2.7M To Bolster
Training Nurses
In Primary Care
Bassett Grant One Of Only 8 In U.S.;
Pilot Program Will Start At FoxCare
COOPERSTOWN – A $2.7 million start-up grant – one of only eight nationally – has been awarded to Bassett Hospital to train nurse practitioners to handle primary-care responsibilities in the eight-county network.
Bassett was one of eight institutions nationwide to receive the Health Resources and Services Administration grant.
The grant from the U.S. Health Resources & Services Administration will integrate the nurse-practitioner primary-care residency, to begin with, into primary-care practices at FoxCare Center in Oneonta.
Beginning in July 2020, the program will accept four residents in year two, eight in year three, and 10 residents in year four.
Using nurses in primary care practices “isn’t new,” said Bassett spokesperson Karen Huxtable-Hooker. “What is new is the residency program; it is an additional year of education that will enhance the new nurse practitioner’s education and better equip them for their practice.”
“It is a best practice and recommended,” she said.
The idea is for the nurse practitioners to “confidently and proficiently serve as a primary-care provider in a complex health-care arena,” Said Dr. Gregory Rys, director of the network’s Nurse Practitioner Residency Program. “Ultimately, we expect this residency program will lead to improved global health of the rural communities we serve by expanding access to quality health and wellness services.”
The hospital started its first medical residency programs in 1927 and its first nurse-training programs in the 1950s. This newest residency program responds to a 2010 report on the future of nursing by the Institute of Medicine, which called for residency training for all advanced practice registered nurses, including nurse practitioners. The institute affirmed that recommendation in 2015.
Bassett will launch its newest residency program in July 2020 in conjunction with four academic partners: Columbia University, SUNY Binghamton, SUNY Upstate and SUNY Polytechnic. Candidates for the Bassett program must be recent graduates of masters in Nursing or Doctors of Nursing Practice programs, certified as family-nurse practitioners, and committed to working in rural or underserved communities.
God help the consumer. In my opinion, I have already seen a very expensive and unnecessary bone marrow test ordered by a FNP for a rash on an 82 year old patient who doesn’t realize that she can question the purpose for such a stressful and painful procedure for a rash. Sure, prescription cream was also ordered, but before a follow up on results of a cheaper more comfortable treatment was even completed, this test was ordered to be done at one of your facilities. What really pissed me off for this consumer is that this trained FNP NEVER SUGGESTED BENADRYL. Because it is inexpensive and over the counter. She did not look into possible cause of a rash…skipped right to the $$$$$ that the system will get and most likely consumer insurance won’t cover. We as consumers do need to stress that we have a right to know why painful extremes are ordered . Doctors may cost Bassett more, but NPS will cost the consumer more. But, that’s just me.