COLUMBUS — No Columbus city money is being used for a new program building a pipeline for nurses from Ghana to come to Columbus, according to a fact check published Oct. 29 by The Columbus Dispatch, which found that a claim by U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno conflated two separate efforts. Moreno, a Republican, attacked Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther, a Democrat, in a letter and press release on Oct. 28 over the Ghana-Columbus Nursing Partnership Program.
Ginther signed a memorandum of understanding with Ghana in September to establish the nursing partnership program, The Columbus Dispatch reported, but no city money is being used on the program. Accra, Ghana, is one of Columbus’ 10 sister cities, and the partnership grew out of that long-standing relationship amid a national shortage of registered nurses in the United States.
“You were elected to serve the citizens of Columbus, not the citizens of Ghana. Increasing publicly subsidized foreign nursing recruitment programs will likely negatively impact American nurses’ wages,” Moreno said in his letter, according to The Columbus Dispatch. Ginther answered in an online post reported by The Dispatch: “Columbus is focused on solving problems and building a welcoming, vibrant community, not creating division. The claims being made about this program are misleading clickbait. No city funding is being used for it.”
The Dispatch reported that Moreno incorrectly alleged that $225,000 in city funds is going to recruit nurses from overseas. City legislation cited by The Dispatch shows the appropriation was annual funding for Greater Columbus Sister Cities International, a nonprofit that manages Columbus’ sister city relationships, not the nursing partnership program. Columbus City Council approved the annual disbursement in June, and Franklin County also provides funding annually, The Dispatch reported.
Jayme Staley, executive director of Greater Columbus Sister Cities International, told The Columbus Dispatch on Oct. 29 that the $225,000 is for annual operating expenses for the nonprofit. She also told The Dispatch that the Ghana-Columbus Nursing Partnership Program is not affiliated with the nonprofit, and that the nonprofit often acts as a conduit connecting cities without being involved in every offshoot program.
“For more than 70 years, Columbus has embraced the spirit of citizen diplomacy envisioned by President Eisenhower when he founded Sister Cities International in 1956,” Staley told The Columbus Dispatch. “With the enduring support of Columbus mayors across generations, we have built meaningful global relationships through education, economic development, and arts and culture.”
The Dispatch noted that Columbus has had a Sister Cities program under four Republican and three Democratic mayors, and that Moreno’s attack arrived less than a week before Election Day as Republicans nationally push strict immigration enforcement. Neither Moreno nor Ginther is on the Nov. 3 ballot. For Columbus residents, the practical bottom line from The Dispatch’s reporting is that the $225,000 in question is the sister cities nonprofit’s regular annual city appropriation, approved months ago, and not spending on the Ghana nursing partnership.