A rotating nursing course is getting prepared to come to Arborg this fall.

It's being held by Assiniboine Community College, and President Mark Frison outlines the details.

Mark Frison"The college offers practical nursing in a number of ways," says Frison. "We have some permanent sites in Winnipeg, Portage, Brandon and Dauphin. And then we have the ability to offer rotating sites. These go into various places throughout the province."

He explains this current offering of the nursing program was announced last week and will start in Arborg in September.

"It's one intake, which is basically 25 students," says Frison. "They go through for two years. We work with the health regions to help find locations, so we're currently working with both Southern Health and Prairie Mountain Health for other locations at the same time. So, there'll actually be four of these rotating sites on the go at any one time once they're all up and running."

He notes the sites are announced as they're confirmed.

"Usually, the health authority helps to identify locations that they think would be good, based on their labour needs, and then the availability of facilities," continues Frison. "Facilities is one of the key things to ensure that we have a spot that the nursing program can be offered appropriately in. In the other places, we're still working that out, and hopefully, we'll be making announcements about other locations in the weeks to come."

Frison explains it all about accessibility for those wanting the training.

"One of the things that you want to make sure about is that we have programs offered close to where the people are needed," adds Frison. "By offering it in rural communities, it helps that people who might be place-bound are able to take the programs. And then, too, they're much more likely to go work at the local health care facilities. So, typically with rotating sites, we actually imposed a geographic preference for people who live within a certain distance of the site so that the locals can have access."

He says applications are being taken for the Arborg site from January 31st to April 18th.

"We do these by competitive entry, so people will apply and then they'll be notified of decisions," says Frison.