Here & Now

Wisconsin National Guard Troops Train to serve as CNAs

Frederica Freyberg:

This week some 80 National Guard members took part in nurse training, a step the state is taking to provide help to the strained health care system in Wisconsin. The guard troops will have spent ten days training at Madison College and will be deployed around the state.

Lisa Marie Greenwood:

There is a tremendous need for health care providers at this point in time. We see that our hospitals are full, our long-term care facilities are full. We have just reached our two-year anniversary with COVID. And our health care providers are beyond exhausted. And they desperately need our help. When they are deployed across Wisconsin communities in greatest need, they will have those skills in hand that they can then be immediately providing hands-on care to our communities that are in need.

Andrew Moen:

I have some family members that are in nursing or work at hospitals that– they are struggling a little bit, at least from what they’ve told me, and I think it’s going to be cool to go have an impact on our state and the people.

Frederica Freyberg:

Officials at Madison College say there could be another class of 80 guard members receiving training by the end of January.