Otero Junior College and hospitals in La Junta and the San Luis Valley have been awarded a $5 million grant to help jobless people learn to be nurses and nurse assistants. Sen. Michael Bennet and Labor Secretary Hilda Solis announced the grant Friday. “We have a chronic shortage, in rural Colorado particularly, in primary-care nurses and nurse assistants,” Bennet said. The grant, funded by the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, will pay tuition costs for nontraditional students to learn to become certified nurse assistants, licensed practical nurses and registered nurses. The program is centered on Otero Junior College in La Junta. Bennet said the intent is to give unemployed people a way to start a new career, and a well-paying one. Rep. Betsy Markey, a Democrat who represents Eastern Colorado in Congress, said the grant is very welcome. “This is great news for Southeast Colorado,” Markey said. “This recession has hit rural communities especially hard, and investing in job creation at OJC will help (people) receive high-quality training and employment services, which will lead to good jobs in health care and other much-needed professions.” She said the grant program should create about 625 trained nursing professionals. Read more from The Pueblo Chieftain.