Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) sent a letter Wednesday demanding that Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther explain why the city struck a deal to recruit nurses from Ghana while American nursing students at home go underfunded.
The agreement, called the Ghana-Columbus Nursing Partnership Programme, was signed in September. It sets up a pipeline for Ghanaian nurses to relocate to Columbus and work in local healthcare facilities, and it’s part of a broader sister-cities arrangement that includes Ghana and nine other countries.
Moreno’s letter doesn’t mince words. “You were elected to serve the citizens of Columbus, not the citizens of Ghana,” he wrote to Ginther.
The senator says the recruitment effort is backed by roughly $225,000 in taxpayer money, and he argues that importing foreign nurses will push down wages for American nurses already working in Ohio.
“Increasing publicly subsidized foreign nursing recruitment programs will likely negatively impact American nurses’ wages. These funds should be invested directly in Ohio nursing students and utilized to expand Ohio’s universities and colleges nursing programs’ capacity. I recommend you implement policies that invest public funds in American nurses.”
Moreno didn’t limit his criticism to the nursing program. He accused Ginther of spending roughly $8.3 million in taxpayer funds “on noncitizens and foreign governments” since taking office as mayor.
The underlying question is simple: with nursing shortages a real problem across Ohio, why is a city government funding recruitment overseas instead of putting that money toward training Ohioans for the job?
Ginther’s office has not responded to the senator’s letter publicly, and the mayor was not available for comment.
