Training the region's next physicians and nurses in York County

Physician and nurse shortages are straining patient access across the country, and South Central Pennsylvania faces the same challenge. To help strengthen the region’s future clinical workforce, WellSpan Health is partnering with Jersey College and Temple University to expand nursing and medical education in York County.

The partnerships connect academic study with clinical training in local care settings. Jersey College and Temple University provide the academic programs, while WellSpan Health brings local clinical expertise, training sites throughout the county and connections to career opportunities.

Patty Donley, RN, DNP

Creating local paths into nursing and medicine

Nursing education already underway

Jersey College provides the associate degree nursing program through its School of Nursing at WellSpan Health. WellSpan Health chose Jersey College for its flexible, supportive approach to educating working adults and other nontraditional students. The model offers a practical path for WellSpan Health employees and community members balancing school, work and family responsibilities.

The program opened in 2024 and graduated its first cohort in August 2026. More than half of those graduates had already committed to WellSpan Health roles before graduation.

"Educating nurses locally lets us tap into that community pride: people who want to live here, work here and give back here professionally," says Patty Donley, RN, DNP, senior vice president and chief nursing executive at WellSpan Health.

Medical education begins in 2027

York County’s first academic medical school campus will welcome its first medical students in August 2027. Students will be based at the WellSpan Health regional campus and complete the same four-year MD curriculum as those at the other campuses of Temple University Lewis Katz School of Medicine. WellSpan Health physicians and education leaders will teach and mentor students, providing clinical training at WellSpan York Hospital and across the health system.

Michael Bohrn, MD, FACEP, FAAEM

WellSpan Health selected Temple University after an extensive search that included an outside consultant, a formal request for proposals and a committee review. Temple University brings strong Pennsylvania roots: Roughly half of its medical students come from the state, and the school has a reputation for educating hardworking students dedicated to patient care.

“Expanding our academic focus will allow us to continue recruiting outstanding physicians and nurses into our system and into the community,” says Michael Bohrn, MD, FACEP, FAAEM, vice president and chief academic officer at WellSpan Health.

Why training clinicians locally matters

WellSpan Health already sees the workforce value of local training through its residency programs. About 30% of physicians who complete residency training at WellSpan Health stay to practice within the organization. For family medicine graduates, that figure is 50%.

That experience suggests that expanding local training opportunities may encourage more physicians and nurses to build careers in the region. By adding clinicians to the regional supply, the new programs broaden a pipeline that the whole area draws on. For community clinicians, a deeper regional workforce supports timelier hospital and specialty care for patients they refer.

An academic environment can also strengthen care. Teaching creates a two-way exchange, with students bringing new questions and perspectives and faculty connecting those ideas to clinical expertise and current evidence.

Together, the programs build on WellSpan Health’s long-standing commitment to education and help prepare more clinicians to care for patients throughout the region.