Allegheny Health Network (AHN) announced the launch of a new national recruitment and loan repayment program designed to strengthen the pipeline of Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) in Western Pennsylvania.
The workforce investment campaign aims to address the ongoing regional and national shortages in CRNAs by reducing financial barriers to education and attracting early-career CRNA talent. A CRNA is an advanced practice registered nurse who specializes in administering anesthesia and monitoring patients before, during, and after surgical procedures.
Without an adequate supply of CRNAs, health systems have trouble meeting patient access demands for surgical procedures, especially elective procedures. Operating rooms face delayed starts and extended turnaround times, and CRNAs themselves experience higher burnout rates.
Through a new collaboration with Clasp, a national leader in retention-driven healthcare recruiting, AHN will provide employer-sponsored student loan repayment for qualified nurse anesthesia students who commit to joining the organization full-time as a CRNA after graduation.
The collaboration with Clasp allows AHN to reach a much broader, national population of CRNA candidates.
Clasp, based in Boston, connects employers to healthcare students through its national retention-driven recruitment platform. By enabling health care systems to sponsor loan repayment tied to early job commitments, Clasp helps employers to secure job commitments while students are still in school, and gives students and early-career professionals access to guaranteed debt relief, deferring loan repayment until after they hit retention milestones.