Health Network Partners with Charles Drew University

Charles Drew University and Dignity Health St. Mary Hospital’s parent company, CommonSpirit Health announced they are forming a partnership in response to the national shortage of nurses.

Health care leaders paying attention to care trends predicted the nursing shortage due to the retiring nursing workforce and the growing care needs of the aging population.

Kathy Sanford, D.B.A., R.N., Chief Nursing Officer at CommonSpirit reportedly said, “Nursing schools simply don’t have the capacity to train nurses fast enough to replace those leaving the profession. As one of the nation’s largest employers of nurses, we knew we needed to be part of the solution.”

A 2021 American Association of Colleges of Nursing study found that although nursing program interest is strong, more than 80,000 qualified applications were rejected at schools of nursing due largely to a shortage of clinical sites, faculty, and resource constraints. The partnership will expand access to quality education and training by adding faculty and resources that help CDU, one of the nation’s leading educators of Black and other underrepresented minority nurses, grow its enrollment.

“In addition to clinical excellence, our students are focused on social justice and health equity
for underserved populations in our surrounding communities in South Los Angeles and around
the world who are affected by health disparities,” said David M. Carlisle, M.D., Ph.D., President
and Chief Executive Officer at CDU. “Expanding our program helps increase their impact and
the likelihood that diverse patients have access to a provider who looks like them.”

Studies show that having access to a provider with shared lived experience helps improve trust
and outcomes, yet only 22.2% of Black adults reported being of the same race as their health
care provider compared to 73.8% of White adults.

“In our Southern California Division alone, we employ 10,000 nurses that care for over a million
people every year,” said Julie J. Sprengel, President and CEO of CommonSpirit’s Southern
California Division. “Together with Charles R. Drew, we’re helping to remove systemic barriers
and create a more diverse and dynamic workforce that reflects the communities we serve.”