[Natalie Waters] "we can’t place just one Kenyan nurse way out here in Marshall, MN."That is how Traci Larson, co-founder of Global Care Recruiters, described the company’s rural placement strategy in a September 8 industry report.
"We should probably look at a few [nurses]."
The firm is recruiting Kenyan nurses for Minnesota senior-care employers and planning how to connect arrivals with local support. Marshall appears as an example of placing nurses together; the report identifies no confirmed placements there.
The organization helping expand that operation is LeadingAge Minnesota, an industry association whose foundation reports receiving $1,684,332 from Minnesota’s Department of Human Services for programs supporting immigrant and refugee workers.
The recruitment operation grew out of a January 2024 delegation to Kenya led by Minnesota Rep. Mohamud Noor, a DFL lawmaker. LeadingAge says Noor worked with Kenya’s State Department for Diaspora Affairs and Pearson VUE to establish a nursing examination center in Nairobi.