Lewiston-based Central Maine Healthcare is launching a new tuition reimbursement program for nursing graduates from its affiliated school, the Maine College of Health Professions.
Graduates will be able to receive roughly $22,000 in tuition reimbursement, which is intended to cover any remaining school costs not covered by student loans.
CMH Chief Nursing Officer Kris Chaisson says in exchange for tuition reimbursement, graduates will commit to work at CMH. For example, if a student receives financial support for two years, they would work for the system for two years.
"By doing this we sort of lock in our workforce for 2023 and '24. And if we keep doing it every year, we get a little bit of a sense of security so that we can rely less on outside, very expensive labor that we get from travel companies," she says.
There's a nationwide shortage of health care workers, and Chaisson says Central Maine Healthcare currently has more than 100 openings for nursing positions.
