Aspiring nurses studying at Lane Community College got a visit from Oregon’s U.S. Senator Ron Wyden Wednesday. On a tour of the Health and Wellness department, the lawmaker saw firsthand how new federal funds will help train tomorrow’s caregivers.
Nursing students Emma Waggoner and Jennifer Cusic are in LCC’s simulation lab, practicing for the real thing. “We’re role playing,” Cusic said. “I’m the nurse and she’s the patient. So, we’re basically pretending like she’s here for congestive heart failure.”
Wyden ducked into the simulated hospital room to watch. Pointing to all the medical equipment he said, “This is so well put together that in an emergency, you could just take it and put it into action.”
Wyden helped secure $500,000 in the 2023 appropriations package to fund this training space. LCC President Stephanie Bulger expressed gratitude. “All of the support that he has given us to upgrade our simulation lab is, as he stated, [it’s] going to create the workforce of the future.”
There are currently 196 students in Lane’s nursing program. Wyden acknowledged the half million dollars in omnibus funding earmarked for Lane Community College’s simulation lab isn’t enough to do “everything needed” to address Oregon’s nursing shortage. He added, “Senator Jeff Merkley and I decided that health care is as important as it gets.”
Wyden illuded to the public/private partnership approach and his legislative work getting CAHOOTS services “locked into Medicaid.”
Leaving the Rosemary P. Haugland Nursing Skills wing in LCC's Health and Wellness Center, Wyden said, “There’s a lot, lot more to do and we’re going to get it done.”
