The Trinity Health West building at the intersection of Broadway and Burdick in downtown Minot is shown Friday. The building, used by both Trinity and Dakota College at Bottineau, is proposed for a Health Sciences Institute. Jill Schramm/MDN

BISMARCK – The state’s acquisition of a downtown Trinity Health building for a Health Sciences Institute would go a long way in addressing the region’s shortage of healthcare workers, according to testimony provided to a House subcommittee Friday.

Representatives of Minot State University, Dakota College at Bottineau, Trinity Health and Minot Area Chamber EDC sought to have the Education and Environment Section of the Appropriations Committee restore about $13 million for the institute that had been cut by the Senate from the higher education bill. The money would purchase, remodel and equip Trinity Health West as a training center for a variety of nursing and allied health programs. Trinity would relocate its remaining services in the building to create space. DCB already offers nursing education on the second floor.

Shirley noted the Minot project rose to the top of the State Board of Higher Education’s priority list when introduced last summer. However, with minimal input and discussion at a Senate hearing, the item was removed from the proposed budget. The Senate instead funded three different N.D. University System projects that were not funded as requested in the 2023 session but were listed in legislative intent to fund in the future.

Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Mike Nathe, R-Bismarck, questioned how Minot plans to get the project to the finish line after letting it get away from them on the Senate side.

“We can do this, but if they’re not on board, it’s kind of a hard sell,” Nathe said of the differences with the Senate that would need to be worked out in conference committee negotiations. “I would just say if this moves forward, we would need everybody’s help from Minot on the other side – in the other chamber.”

Brekka Kramer, president/CEO of MACEDC, called the lack of attention to the bill on the Senate side an oversight.

“We assumed, which is not the right thing to do, that this was going to stay intact,” she said. “The fact that it is a workforce solution – we see some great value.”

“We have a track record of delivering high quality, health-related academic programming in downtown Minot,” MSU President Dr. Steve Shirley said. “This major expansion would allow us to build on that legacy and bring a whole new realm of important educational opportunities that will truly help provide healthcare workforce solutions throughout north central and northwestern North Dakota, with a wide variety of possible new programs in such fields as surgical technician, pharmacy tech, sonography, physical and occupational therapy techs, medical assistance respiratory therapy technicians and on and on.

“We will also be able to offer a range, from short term, less than a year kinds of certifications, one and two year associate type programs, the bachelor’s offerings that we have at Minot State University and with a potential new master’s degree at MSU in nursing. In other words, this new institute would truly allow us to have an all-of-the-above strategy as we work to further meet and solve healthcare workforce challenges,” he said.

The Trinity building also was presented to legislators as a bargain.

Trinity Health President/CEO John Kutch said the building is valued at more than three times the price discussed with MSU, but Trinity is motivated by a desire to solve its labor challenge. As of April 1, Trinity had 442 open positions, of which all were clinical except 92, he said.

“If you were to present me with 200 qualified nurses, I would hire 100%,” Kutch said. He explained the need extends throughout the healthcare system in the community and region, and that need is growing.

“One of the things that is impacting our ability to grow with respect to meeting the needs and expectations of the patient population that we serve is our inability to get access to that human capital that we need. Without access to that human capital, we cannot grow our programs. We cannot grow our services to provide the level of access,” Kutch said.

DCB Campus Dean Dr. Carmen Simone outlined the college’s existing nursing program, which has eight slots in Bottineau at each the LPN and two-year RN levels. In Minot, DCB is operating at full 16-person capacity at each of the levels. However, she added, the program has 48 applications for next year’s LPN class and is in the process of hiring more faculty to be able to double the number of LPNs it graduates.

DCB also provides other allied health courses in Bottineau and Minot, including operating the new dental assisting program in downtown Minot.

The request is to add $12.35 million in state funds to the higher education bill, with authorization for $650,000 to be raised locally. Shirley said applying for a state Workforce Innovation grant is an option to assist with certain costs.

If approved by the 2025 Legislature, he said, the Health Sciences Institute could be operating within a year or two.