Chamberlain University opened its first Utah nursing campus in Sandy on Oct. 26, welcoming students to a three-year bachelor’s degree program designed to expand access to nursing education in the state.
Chamberlain University's first Utah location is its 26th campus nationwide, according to a company announcement. Utah has just seven nurses for every 1,000 residents, the lowest ratio in the country, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data cited in the announcement.
Among those at the opening was Crystal Albrecht, a Chamberlain alumna who earned her BSN while already working in hospital leadership. She now serves as director of operations for CommonSpirit Health Mountain Region, KSL reported in March 2025.
Albrecht's career shows what retention can look like. She previously ran the emergency department at Holy Cross Hospital–Jordan Valley in West Jordan, according to KSL. That experience put her at the center of Utah's staffing pressures.
She told KSL she grew concerned about the nursing shortage projected over the next five to 10 years as the U.S. population ages and began looking for ways to keep her emergency department staffed. Her solution was to advocate for House Bill 14, which took effect May 7, 2025. The law allows licensed EMS personnel to provide non-911 emergency medical services in hospitals, clinics and other settings.
Albrecht told KSL the law lets EMS workers earn additional training as critical-care medics and perform more medical care. She said a CommonSpirit sister hospital in Kentucky had already adopted the model and saw better nurse-to-patient and medic-to-patient ratios along with greater acceptance from nursing staff. She added that the approach would reduce her system's reliance on contract nurses.
Chris Thurman, a retired Unified Fire Authority firefighter and paramedic who now serves as EMS coordinator for CommonSpirit Holy Cross Hospitals, told KSL the program is not a replacement for nurses.
"Nurses can't be replaced," Thurman said. "Paramedics can't be replaced either because we bring a whole different skill set and tools to the team."
Holy Cross Hospitals, owned by CommonSpirit Health, operate in five locations along the Wasatch Front, according to the Utah Hospital Association.
The new Chamberlain campus offers a three-year path to a BSN with evening and weekend classes. State Rep. Katy Hall, a practicing nurse who represents District 11, said at the opening that a 2024 state audit found qualified applicants were being turned away from public nursing programs.
The Salt Lake City area posted more than 24,000 healthcare job openings last year, a figure that rose nearly 20% year over year, according to a report by Covista, Chamberlain's parent company.
