A recent report shows Southwestern Oregon is on the precipice of a crisis-level nursing shortage brought upon by increased access to health care, an aging workforce, and a lack of educational capacity to train new nurses. Southwestern Oregon Workforce Investment Board (SOWIB) Program Manager Kyle Stevens alerted the board about the local impacts of the national nursing shortage. The shortage, reported at SOWIB’s Aug. 16 meeting, more seriously affects rural areas like Curry and Coos counties, according to Stevens, and even higher shortages of nurse instructors exacerbate the problem by limiting the number of nurses that can be trained. “SOWIB’s goal,” Stevens said, “is to increase training o