Walz Announces New Initiative to Train, Deploy Nursing Assistants
ST. PAUL -- Governor Tim Walz plans to train, deploy roughly 1,000 new Certified Nursing Assistants to long-term care facilities by the end of next month.
Walz announced Monday a new partnership between state government, colleges and long-term care providers to recruit, train and deploy new CNA's to help long-term care facilities experiencing staffing shortages.
Our goal is to train 1,000 CNA's in two months to bolster staffing and provide necessary care to Minnesota patients during our COVID-19 response. By not only that, through this training program we can help maintain a stable long-term care workforce for years to come.
Qualified Minnesotans will be enrolled in certification courses at Minnesota State campuses.
Currently, sixteen colleges within the Minnesota State system are training roughly 400 members of the National Guard for deployment as emergency temporary nursing assistants.
Walz says statewide enrollment shows over 11,500 students enrolled in CNA programs between 2017-2020, with only 5,100 completing a CNA credential. He says helping these students complete their program will increase the number of students pursuing a CNA credential, which is critical for the state.
The Walz Administration plans to use $3.5-million in federal American Rescue Plan funding to pay for the CNA program.
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