Ross is Answer to Nurse Shortage By Irwin Spivak, Special to The Palm Beach Post
Tuesday, April 22, 2003 Two years ago, Robert Ross sold his
shares in a university he had founded for $150 million. He's 84 and has no plans to retire. Ross, who has an office in Palm Beach, works seven days a week. "I'm at my desk at 8 a.m. and leave about 12:30 p.m.," said Ross, who has an honorary doctorate. "I go home and start dictating for another
seven hours or so. I've got agents all over the world in addition to corresponding with hospitals, United States government agencies and a lot more." His 2-year-old International Nursing Recruitment, LLC organization employs 20 people in New York and Florida and he works with more than 600 agents who recruit nurses for employment in the United States. During the last two years he has brought in several hundred nurses and expects to bring in another 50,000 in 2003. His agents are in Eastern Europe, the Far East, Africa and the Caribbean. "I was prompted to start this operation because of the severe shortage of nurses," he said. "Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao tells us that there is a 135,000 shortage of nurses right now and this number will increase to an
additional 400,000 in the next year. The New York Times stated recently in an editorial that more than 100 deaths could be attributed to nurse shortages and CNN, ABC and NBC corroborated these numbers." Ross is responsible for arranging sponsorship of these nurses as required by the Department of Immigration and he places nurses in nursing homes and hospitals throughout the U.S. Their
average starting salary ranges between $40,000 and $50,000 annually compared to less than $500 per month in their countries. Most of the nurses come from South Africa, Nigeria and Ghana. These countries don't want them to emigrate but they cannot match the money in the U.S. "Most of the nurses I bring in have a B.S. in nursing comparable to American nurses with an R.N. (registered nurse
degree)," he said. "In 2000, hospitals and nursing homes paid agencies like ours in excess of $7 billion. In 2001, it was in excess of $8 billion and in 2002, The New York Times said this number would exceed $10 billion. That tells you how serious the shortage is." In 1978, he founded Ross University, a medical school in the Caribbean island nation of Dominica, with 11 students. It
became one of the largest medical and veterinary schools with American enrolled students. He also founded the Ross School of Veterinary Medicine in St. Kitts. Both schools have more than 7,000 practicing graduates in the U.S. He received his $150 million when he sold his majority share of these schools. Ross moved to Palm Beach from New York City in 1985. He was born in Detroit, youngest of six children
and worked paper routes to help support his family after his father died. Ross and his wife Anne have six children -- four work for Ross University. They have 12 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. "In my first life I started out as a wholesale distributor of television sets. Now, my philosophy is simple," he says. "I love new ideas and challenges... they invigorate me... and I
just keep on going."
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