BISMARCK, N.D. — The leaders of Sanford Medical Center had waited all summer to learn the fate of the 59 nurses planning to move across the world to their isolated state capital. The reinforcements from the Philippines, Kenya and Nigeria would allow the hospital to expand its heart unit and staff a new wing. Costly temporary nurses would go. The scramble to fill shifts would finally be over.
A broken immigration system keeps workers out of jobs the U.S. needs to fill
North Dakota’s hospitals are desperate for nurses, but backlogs and other problems in immigration agencies block the way
By Lisa Rein
December 21, 2023 at 6:00 a.m. EST