Five years after the onset of the pandemic, the only hospital that still delivers babies in Washington County continues to rely on travel nurses to fill its staffing gaps.
The shortage has eased a little since 2020, but the situation is still unsustainable and doesn’t address the root of the problem, according to Julie Hixson, director of marketing and communications for Down East Community Hospital in Machias.
“It’s not like they’re going to magically reappear,” she said. “Something needs to give.”
The region that includes Washington and Hancock counties — covering more than 4,800 square miles — has the smallest and oldest nursing workforce in the state, according to a 2024 study by Cypress Research Group.
The region’s population is also aging, and health providers expect they’ll need more complicated care.
In response, the University of Maine at Machias has added a new program this year for students to partner with the local hospital and get four-year nursing degrees without having to leave Washington County. It’s the latest effort to address a shortage of nurses that has plagued the state for years amidst instability in the health care system.
It’s one of several examples of health care organizations in more rural parts of the state that have been partnering with colleges to help provide a steady path to nursing that can meet staffing needs.
The new degree at the Machias university joins a separate program that for the last three years has allowed nursing students to complete their basic classes in Machias, then finish the second half in Orono.
That isn’t always an option for local students in the close-knit community, according to Megan Walsh, dean and campus director at Machias.
“We wanted people to have experience living here, working here and really staying within their community, knowing that they would help their community after graduation,” she said.
The new program can accept up to eight students every other year. For advanced coursework, they will take virtual classes in real time through the University of Maine at Augusta’s nursing program, attend its simulator in Ellsworth and occasionally travel to Augusta for other simulations.
The Augusta program is also certified in holistic nursing, which aims to teach students how to take care of themselves and succeed in a demanding career while also helping patients.
“We want it to be successful, and we’re pretty sure it will be,” Hixson said.
Brenna Alley, one of the new students, initially planned to pursue a law career. Then, in January, she needed a minor surgery, and said the support she received from the nurses showed her a new calling.
But, she said, she’s “a Down East girl through and through” and family is important to her, so she didn’t want to leave.
“This was very important to me, because if I’m going to go into nursing, I want to serve the community that I love so much,” she said.
Olivia Sokoloski, another new student in the program, has been a certified nursing assistant since high school and works at a local nursing home. She can now get a degree while living at home, which is more convenient for her, and she said she’s excited to be part of the first students.
Within the next five years, the state is expected to be short more than 2,800 nurses, according to the Cypress Group study. Maine was already short around 2,115 nurses last year, that study found. It determined that efforts to recruit and train new nurses had kept that shortage from becoming worse.
Washington County itself is also aging, meaning more people will require more complicated care.
That has created a “dire need,” according to Shannon Gauvin, who directs nursing at the University of Maine at Augusta.
In her experience, nurses are also increasingly expected to have four-year degrees, she said, and the more educated they are, the better outcomes for patients tend to be. The new program should let them get that for the first time without having to move away.
“I don’t think they should have to leave Down East,” said Walsh, who also sees the new program as positive momentum for the region.
