Campaign for Edison Community College
Makes Investment for Future of Local Health Care
The Campaign for Edison will
produce more qualified health care professionals for the region
Edison
Community College has launched The Campaign for Edison,
which will provide many more qualified registered nurses (RN’s)
and healthcare professionals for the region and help offset the
forecasted critical shortages.
A new Health Sciences
Center on the Piqua main campus, including classrooms and
laboratories to educate students in new and expanded health care
programs, will combine with a new Library/Learning Center.
These facilities spanning 34,000 square feet and the renovation
of 17,000 square feet of existing campus space comprise Phase I
of The Campaign. Construction extending west from North
Hall, which was built in 1994, would begin in spring 2006 with
completion a year later.
According to Edison
President Dr. Kenneth A. Yowell, “the bottom line for The
Campaign is to create the local capacity to train and
educate these professionals to maintain an outstanding level of
health care in the upper Miami Valley and enhance the quality of
life for the region’s residents.”
Yowell noted, “Over the
last couple of years, community leaders have indicated how
Edison could assist in keeping our communities vibrant. We
listened. We planned. We listened some more. Then we modified
our plans.”
The Health Sciences
Center and a Library/Learning Center, which will replace the
current 30-year-old library, represent “the most urgent need,”
Yowell noted.
The
Need is Critical
With the average age for nurses in
Ohio at 48 and climbing, shortages will likely intensify during
the next 10 years as maturing nurses begin retiring or reducing
hours worked.
According to the Department of Labor,
a national shortage of nurses currently is estimated at nearly
110,000. As health care administrators throughout the country
and here in the west central Ohio look to the future, they see
that number soaring to more than 500,000.
In fact, some sources
for employment projections predict the demand for RN’s across
the country and in Ohio will be greater than any other
occupation.
Responding to the Need
Since
1981, Edison has been the region’s primary resource for
registered nurses. Approximately 70 percent of the registered
nurses who work in Miami, Shelby and Darke counties are Edison
graduates.
In
response to the need for more RN’s, Edison is committed to
double in five years the number of graduates with Associate of
Applied Science Degrees in Nursing.
In
addition, over the next five years, Edison plans to implement
new programs in Medical Laboratory Technology, Occupational
Therapy, Respiratory Therapy, and Physical Therapy Assisting.
Medical Assisting was successfully introduced with full classes
last August. Classes are rapidly filling for 2006. In
addition, a Phlebotomy curriculum is in place for the new year.
The
Library/Learning Center will serve Edison students and all
regional citizens with updated and sophisticated resources for
academic and recreational pursuits. These include learning and
research collaboration, study rooms, archives, and electronic
media such as e-journals, e-books and digital media.
Hospitals Lead Off the
Campaign
The
Campaign for Edison has received a lead gift from the three
hospitals in the region—the Upper Valley Medical Center (UVMC)
in Miami County, Wilson Memorial Hospital in Shelby County, and
Wayne Hospital in Darke County.
Facing as much as a 30 percent shortfall of trained RN’s in the
years to come, these hospitals recognize that education and
training are keys to the physical health and economic well-being
of residents in the region.
The three
hospitals pledged investments to be made over five years. UVMC
is investing $600,000; Wilson, $250,000; and Wayne, $150,000.
The total investment by the three hospitals, combined with an
expected capital allocation of $4-million from the State of
Ohio, pushes The Campaign for Edison to more than 60
percent of its $8-million goal. The remaining $3-million
invested in The Campaign will be generated locally.
Employees on the
campus of Edison have already contributed more than $125,000.
Edison and Health Care to
Partner
“Having the appropriate number of qualified health care
personnel into the future will be an increasing challenge for
all health care organizations,” said David J. Meckstroth,
President and CEO of UVMC.
“With the existing and predicted nursing shortage, and the
continued high demand for medical allied health professionals,
there is little question that the expansion of programs at
Edison will greatly benefit regional health care providers,”
Meckstroth said. “Our concern is for the future care of the
patients who will require our services.”
Thomas J. Boecker,
President and CEO of Wilson Memorial Hospital, added that the
hospitals are confident that the expansion of the College’s
health care curriculum will “position us to more conveniently
and more economically attract health care professionals to meet
the needs of our patients.”
Boecker noted, “Our
pledge is small in comparison to the benefits it will yield.
It is truly an
investment for high quality health care in the future.”
Raymond E. Laughlin,
President and CEO of Wayne Hospital, said that the total
investment by the three hospitals enables the region’s community
college “to expand and accommodate important new nursing and
health sciences classrooms and laboratories.”
He pointed out that the
hospitals’ commitment to The Campaign for Edison is “a
pro-active plan to provide us with the necessary clinical staff
for the years ahead.”
Hospitals to Help Shape Programs
“Edison is extremely
grateful to our region’s three major health care providers,”
said Yowell. “By creating this partnership, Edison and the
hospitals can help ensure that the upper Miami Valley will
continue to receive outstanding health care at their hospitals,
area clinics, and other care centers.”
UVMC, Wilson Memorial
Hospital, and Wayne Hospital currently provide clinical training
sites for students in Edison’s nursing program. In addition,
the three health care providers are represented on the program’s
advisory committee, which assists the College in shaping its
nursing curriculum.
“In the future, our
region’s three hospitals will play key roles in the development
of new health care programs at Edison,” Yowell stated.
Interested in learning
more about Edison's expansion program? Please contact:
Terri Jacomet
Vice President
of Institutional Advancement
937.778.7806 or
