skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Safety Net Clinic Workers Catch Break on Student Loans

play audio
Play

Tuesday, June 28, 2016   

DENVER – Twenty-two nurses, dental hygienists and other clinical support staff in Colorado have been selected to receive $175,000 to pay off health related student loan debt.

The program, funded by Kaiser Permanente Colorado and managed by the Colorado Community Health Network, aims to address workforce shortages at safety net clinics and help people find careers in health care.

Lorena Olivas, a medical assistant at Denver Health's Lowry Family Health Center, says erasing $9,800 of debt makes it easier to go back to school to become a registered nurse.

"I mean, it's hard to pay off student loans, as many people know,” she states. “And it feels good to be able to give back to the community and someone actually tell you, ‘Thank you for all that you do, now let me help you as you've helped others.'”

National and state loan repayment programs for doctors have been around for years, but giving professional support staff debt relief is a relatively new idea.

The three-year effort has helped 74 workers in Colorado pay off loans and is set to expire next year.

Olivas says support staff members are the backbone of community health centers. She's hopeful the program will be renewed.

Award recipients get loan repayment in exchange for a one-year service commitment to their clinics.

Amanda Delgado, a medical assistant at the Pueblo Community Health Center, says a friend told her about the relief program and encouraged her to go back to school.

"So when she told me about it and where she works, and told me about the whole safety net clinic, it did make me interested,” she relates. “I just had my mind set that I wanted to help other people."

Delgado says the $10,000 award takes a big chunk out of her $25,000 tuition tab, and says it also helped remove a lot of stress and improve work performance.

The Colorado Community Health Network is actively seeking new sources of funding to continue offering loan repayment to outstanding support staff.





get more stories like this via email

more stories
Many factors affect a customer's bill amount, including energy usage, weather, and the number of days in a billing period, according to Arizona Public Service. (Jason Yoder/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …


Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …


More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social media platform X temporarily shutdown searches of "Taylor Swift" following the release of explicit deepfake images in early 2024. (Mdv Edwards/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

Social Issues

play sound

A 2023 study from the University of Nebraska Medical Center concluded the number of Nebraskans with a mental health or substance abuse disorder has pr…

Environment

play sound

A farm group is helping Iowa agriculture producers find ways to reduce the amount of nitrogen they use on their crops. Excess nitrates can wind up …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021