HealthPartners and BAYADA College of Nursing today announced a unique new partnership aimed at reducing the nursing shortage in Minnesota. In the partnership, BAYADA nursing students will earn their Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN) degree with immersive clinical experiences at HealthPartners hospitals and clinics.  

The new partnership will start with a cohort embedded at Regions Hospital, a leading Level 1 Trauma Center and destination for specialty care. As the program grows, learning opportunities will expand across HealthPartners.  

“We’re especially excited about this partnership because it’s going to be such a big benefit for both our current and future workforce as well as our patients,” said DeLinda Washington, Senior Vice President and Chief People Officer at HealthPartners. “It creates a new pathway to develop future nursing talent and really helps address the long-term challenges of the current nursing shortage.” 

The program is supported by a $10 million donation from Ann and Mark Baiada to BAYADA College of Nursing, a nonprofit nursing school based in Minnesota. Mark Baiada is the founder and Chairman of BAYADA Home Health Care, a leading nonprofit provider of complex care at home. Inspired by BAYADA Home Health Care’s over 50-year legacy of compassionate, excellent, and reliable nursing care, Baiada co-founded BAYADA College of Nursing to educate more outstanding nurses and revolutionize clinical education.  

“I am so happy to see this partnership come to life in Minnesota, my mother’s home state and a hub of health care innovation. We are proud to work with HealthPartners, an organization whose values so closely align with BAYADA’s, to help bring more great nurses into the world and prepare compassionate individuals in our community for meaningful and fulfilling careers,” said Mark Baiada, co-founder and Chairman of BAYADA College of Nursing.  

Minnesota currently faces a shortage of 30,000 nurses by some estimates, a gap that is expected to grow. BAYADA College of Nursing’s proposed Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree program is designed for adults who have earned a bachelor’s degree, associate’s degree, or 60 semester undergraduate credit hours and are interested in becoming registered nurses. Recent college graduates and mid-career professionals who want to find meaningful and mission-driven work will have an opportunity to become a nurse on an accelerated timeline.  

“This is a great partnership because nurses will get the training they need to jump right into our care programs as soon as they’re hired,” said Rochelle Johnson, Vice President of Patient Care and Chief Nursing Officer at Regions Hospital. “Our patients will undoubtedly benefit from the great education these nurses will have received.”  

The program will initially be offered at a 24-month, part-time pace suited to fit the schedule of working adults who are interested in pursuing a career in nursing. In the future, BAYADA College of Nursing intends to offer a 15-month full-time plan of study. The program is now enrolling students for the inaugural cohort, which will start in Spring 2027.