Assiniboine celebrates the rural rotating Practical Nursing training site in Arborg

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A group of nursing students and staff stand in a nursing lab among patient (mannequin) beds.

Assiniboine Community College hosted a celebration luncheon at its rural rotating Practical Nursing training site in Arborg today.

“Assiniboine’s expansion of its Practical Nursing program in both permanent and rural rotating sites will allow more students to become certified in this high-demand health-care occupation,” said Advanced Education and Training Minister Sarah Guillemard. “Being able to attend training closer to home increases participation rates for rural students, which aligns with our government’s Skills, Training and Knowledge Strategy, and also supports our commitment to add 400 new nursing seats to meet Manitoba’s health sector needs.”

The site welcomed its first intake of nursing students in January 2021, followed by a second intake in September 2022. Today, President Mark Frison visited the site for a celebration event attended by nursing students and staff, Minister Derek Johnson, who is the MLA for Interlake-Gimli, and partners from the Town of Arborg and the Interlake-Eastern Health Regional Health Authority.

“Assiniboine continues to be responsive to Manitoba’s labour market and support economic growth by meeting community needs. Our rural rotating Practical Nursing training sites answer the call on both of these priorities. I’m thrilled to be in Arborg today to celebrate a site that has trained and is currently training many nurses who will go on to work in this community and region,” said Mark Frison, President at Assiniboine. “We thank our partners in community, healthcare and government for ensuring we can offer these training opportunities close to home for these nursing students.”

The college held a grand opening of its Virden and Otterburne rural rotating locations in November, with a similar event held in Morden earlier this month.

“Since 2010, Assiniboine has offered the Practical Nursing program over ten times in the Interlake-Eastern region in Ashern, Selkirk, Pine Falls, and Arborg,” said Marion Ellis, CEO of Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority. “We thank the college for continuing to host these accessible nursing education opportunities in our communities.”

Practical Nursing is the largest single program of study at Assiniboine, with 100 per cent of graduates surveyed reporting they had jobs. Since 1975, more than 4,200 individuals have graduated from nursing programs offered by the college.

In addition to rural rotating sites, the college has permanent Practical Nursing programs at its campuses in Brandon, Winnipeg, Dauphin and Portage la Prairie.