Building Tomorrow's Healthcare Workforce: USD's Grant-Funded Vision for Rural South Dakota

By Alex Strauss

The same vast rural landscapes that many South Dakotans find so beautiful can also make it enormously challenging to deliver health care here. Many rural communities are separated by hours of driving and there are never enough healthcare professionals to serve them.

That's why the University of South Dakota School of Health Sciences is taking a bold, strategic approach to help meet South Dakota's healthcare workforce needs. Through four major federal grants totaling over $6 million, USD is not just training the next generation of healthcare providers—it's reshaping how they think about rural practice.

These grants represent a huge investment in South Dakota's healthcare future: a $1.05 million HRSA grant focused on rural nursing workforce development, a $3 million Department of Labor nursing expansion program, a $1.1 million HRSA telehealth training initiative, and a $1.06 million COMPASS grant targeting mental health professional shortages.

Together, these programs are creating new pathways for students to discover what's rewarding about rural healthcare while building systems that will support them for the long haul.

Learning by Living Rural

For Dalton Bremer, who grew up in the small northwestern Iowa town of Ocheyedan, the HRSA grant's rural immersion program was a game-changer. Through the grant, he spent ten shifts over three weeks at Freeman Medical Center in Freeman, South Dakota. The experience completely changed how he thought about rural nursing.

"It's not that nursing is drastically different in a small hospital," Bremer explains. "It's just that you are the only one there—there's no IV team, there's no wound care team. You are practicing the full depth of all of your skills."

Anne Pithan, Chair of USD's Department of Nursing, says this is exactly the point. "It has allowed us to immerse these students in rural communities and hospitals to really expose students to rural medicine and rural nursing care so that they can develop a love and passion for it."

The three-year, $1.05 million grant, which started in 2022, places students in rural healthcare settings all across South Dakota—places like Hot Springs, Pine Ridge, Vermillion, Tyndall, Viborg, Sturgis, Mitchell, Canton, Freeman, and Chamberlain. The program picks up the tab for students' lodging, meals, and travel, which removes the financial barriers that might otherwise keep students from participating.

For Bremer, the experience built confidence that extended far beyond his time at Freeman. "It really pushed me to grow in my skills. After I did those ten shifts, I felt much more confident practicing those skills in the next year of nursing school. I really felt more like a nurse than a student."

Now working at Avera McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls, Bremer's long-term goal remains unchanged: returning to rural practice in home town. "There are so many different avenues to make an impact on those communities that you serve. For me, it's a way of giving back to the place that raised me."

Building Networks, Building Futures

While the HRSA grant immerses individual students in rural practice, USD's $3 million Department of Labor grant supports a broader, two-pronged approach to address the nursing shortage. The first prong includes targeted recruitment and education in collaboration with workforce development and practice partners. The second is about facilitating collaborations to improve nursing workforce pipelines in the future. The exceptionally competitive five-year grant runs through May 2028.

One ambitious goal with this grant funding is to credential 128 nurses with bachelor's and master's degrees for employment in South Dakota. At the halfway point, the program has already credentialed 63 new nurses—putting it on track to meet its targets.

The grant has also allowed for the creation of the South Dakota Nursing Network (SDNN), of which Pithan is now the leader. "The South Dakota Nursing Network is an entirely volunteer organization including educators, bedside nurses, leadership, and representatives of regulatory bodies—all committed to making nursing excellent in the state of South Dakota," says Pithan.

The DOL grant led to the creation of four distinct action teams that address different aspects of workforce development: recruiting diverse nursing candidates, improving training for high-demand specialties like mental health nursing, expanding preceptor programs, and reviewing practice policies, environments for nurses, and employment standards. This team also hosts an annual SDNN nursing summit—this year scheduled for October 21st in Sioux Falls.

What makes the South Dakota approach unique, according to Pithan, is the genuine spirit of cooperation that defines the state's nursing community. "The specialness of South Dakota is that people care so much about the nursing profession. There's much more camaraderie here. You don't see that in other states."

This collaborative approach extends to the practical impact of the grant. "Sometimes it's just that little bit of extra help that can really bring people into the profession," says Pithan, referring to the financial support and pathway programs that have already brought more than 60 new nurses into South Dakota's workforce.

Technology Expanding Access

Recognizing that not every community can support on-site specialists, USD's $1.1 million HRSA telehealth grant is preparing students to deliver care through innovative technology platforms. The three-year initiative brings together the School of Health Sciences, Sanford School of Medicine, Department of Communication Sciences & Disorders, and Department of Psychology in an interprofessional approach to telehealth education.

"Introducing telehealth early in their education provides students with a solid foundation in utilizing this technology to deliver healthcare services," explains Ranelle Nissen, Associate Dean of Academics in the School of Health Sciences.

The program uses a hub-and-spoke model, with USD serving as the hub and rural clinical sites across the state functioning as spokes. This design allows students to gain hands-on experience with telehealth technology while rural communities benefit from expanded access to specialized services.

"Students gain practical hands-on experience with telehealth equipment, enhancing their proficiency and confidence in this essential aspect of healthcare," says Nissen. The goal extends beyond individual student training to create a regional telehealth consortium that will facilitate resource sharing and collaboration among healthcare partners throughout South Dakota.

Addressing Mental Health Needs

The newest addition to USD's grant portfolio addresses one of healthcare's most pressing challenges: the shortage of mental health professionals. The $1.06 million COMPASS grant (Clinical Opportunities for Mobilizing Professionals in Assisting South Dakota's Service gaps) specifically targets the behavioral health needs of children, adolescents, and young adults aged 16-25.

Led by Kelly Bass, Chair of USD's Department of Social Work, the two-year program provides stipends to Master of Social Work students who complete 250-hour clinical placements with community mental health agencies, the state psychiatric hospital, or clinics serving other underserved areas. The program also pays for clinical supervisors' training time and provides free continuing education units for participating social workers.

The partnership with the South Dakota Department of Social Services Behavioral Health Program and the Human Services Center creates direct pathways from education to employment, addressing the reality that all of South Dakota faces mental health professional shortages, with particularly problematic declines in children's and youth mental health.

A Comprehensive Vision

Together, these four grants represent more than individual program successes—they demonstrate USD's comprehensive understanding of rural healthcare workforce challenges and its commitment to sustainable solutions. By addressing nursing, telehealth, and mental health simultaneously, the university is creating an interconnected system that supports both providers and communities.

And the impact extends beyond the immediate grant periods. Students like Dalton Bremer carry their rural immersion experiences into their careers, while the South Dakota Nursing Network builds lasting infrastructure for collaboration and support. The telehealth training prepares graduates for the realities of modern healthcare delivery, and the COMPASS program addresses critical mental health needs that affect every community.

As these programs continue to evolve and expand, they're not just filling workforce gaps—they're fostering a new generation of healthcare providers who understand the unique rewards and challenges of rural practice. In a state where geography often determines access to care, USD's grant-funded initiatives are helping ensure that quality healthcare can reach every community, no matter how remote.