(AP) — Sixteen people have graduated from Hilo Medical Center’s year-long residency program in nursing. Most of them are from the Big Island. The Hawaiʻi Tribune-Herald reports members of this year’s class started their residency in October last year after spending the spring 2020 semester of school in online classes due to the coronavirus pandemic. Hawaiʻi has a shortage of nurses, so the importance of graduating nurses on the Big Island has increased, especially as the state grapples with COVID-19. There are 23 residents in the incoming class of the medical center’s Nurse Residency Program.

© copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved