Tuesday, the Thomason Hospital Board of Managers approved a proposed funding plan to launch the program.

The university and the hospital partnered to submit a grant application to the Paso del Norte Foundation for $750,000, and Thomason agreed to match it.

Donations from other local organizations and companies will also be sought to further the program. The program allows people who already have a bachelor's degree in another area to complete the accelerated 12-month program to become nurses.

"It is meant to be the seed money to start the program," Thomason CEO Jim Valenti said.

The Texas Legislature will be asked to fund the program's continuation after its third year.

"We're not producing nurses fast enough," said Diana Fancher, Thomason's chief nursing officer. "It won't just be a benefit to Thomason Hospital, it will be a benefit to the entire community. Nationwide, we are facing a huge nursing shortage."

Locally, the shortage is likely to increase with the expansion of hospitals and the retirement of current nurses.

Fancher said a feasibility study was conducted to determine whether the program would be a good fit for El Paso, and it included speaking with the heads of the area's hospitals. The study indicated that there is enough room at the region's facilities to accommodate the new nurses.

"I think it brings an additional dimension to opportunities for nursing in El Paso," said Dr. Jose Manuel de la Rosa, founding dean at the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. "El Paso needs as many new nurses as we can graduate."

If the grant is awarded later this year, the first class of about 20 students could begin in January.

The University of Texas at El Paso also operates a similar program.

Erica Molina Johnson may be reached at emolina@elpasotimes.com; 546-6132.