How 2 health systems found their next nurses already on the payroll 


Thursday, June 11th, 2026 | 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM CT 

Persistent vacancies, rising contract labor costs and limited access to local nursing education are squeezing health systems, especially in rural and regional markets.


In response, many organizations are working harder to recruit. A smaller number are taking a different approach: building nursing pipelines from within their existing workforce.
North Platte, Neb.-based Great Plains Health and Sierra View Medical Center in Porterville, Calif., are 2 such systems. Both decided to stop competing for the same shrinking talent pool and instead build their workforce from within.

In this 60-minute discussion, Ivan Mitchell, CEO of Great Plains Health, Jeff Hudson-Convolo, DNP, R.N., President of the Association of California Nurse Leaders (ACNL), and Brandy Irwin, MSN, RN, vice president of patient care and CNO of Sierra View Medical Center, will walk through how their teams moved from idea to launch and how they built the executive and board alignment to make it happen.

What attendees will take away:
 
  • The board-level framing that wins approval for workforce infrastructure
  • A CFO-ready financial model and the assumptions behind it
  • The CNO and CHRO considerations that determine whether the program succeeds
  • How to design for replication so the first cohort isn't the last

Feel free to register even if you can't attend live, we'll make sure to send you the recording afterwards. Hope to see you there!

Presenters: 

Ivan Mitchell - Kristelle Khazzaka

Ivan J. Mitchell

Chief Executive Officer, Great Plains Health

Brandy Irwin_Headshot - Kristelle Khazzaka

Brandy Irwin, MSN, RN

Vice President of Patient Care and Chief Nursing Officer, Sierra View Medical Center

Dr. Jeff Hudson

Jeffery L. Hudson-Covolo, DNP, R.N., NEA-BC, FACHE

President,  Association of California Nurse Leaders (ACNL); Co-Founder, Sierra View Medical Center School of Nursing powered by Unitek College

Moderator

Caitlin Masterson_Headshot - Kristelle Khazzaka

Caitlin Masterson

President SVP of Workforce Development, Unitek Learning