The $7.6 million multi-faceted health science education facility — a new concept in health career education and training — opened its doors in August on the hospital campus at 5757 Innovation Drive.
The academy, a partnership of Warren County Career Center, Miami University, Atrium Medical Center, the city of Middletown and Cincinnati State Technical & Community College, increases access to education and technical training for careers in the health care field for individuals in the southwest Ohio region.
Maggie Hess, superintendent of the Warren County Career Center, said the center is happy to be a part of the health science education venture.
“We’re very excited about having this opportunity to collaborate with post-secondary partners and to be on a hospital campus because we feel like it’s giving additional opportunities to both our high school and our adult students,” she said.
Hess said the center’s enrollment in its junior program for high school kids is at a maximum of 50 students and this week it started classes for its adult education students, which currently includes an enrollment of 76 students. The center also has some additional programs that it will offer beginning in October and another group of classes starting after Jan. 1, which will probably double its adult education enrollment.
“We’re very excited and believe that we’re going to continue to see an increase in enrollment as time goes on because we’ve got people dropping in everyday wanting to know about our adult education classes,” she said.
The center offers a variety of courses including medical assistant, medical billing and coding, multi-skilled medical technician, phlebotomy technician, pharmacy technician and state tested nursing assistant, said Peg Allen, a career center spokeswoman.
Janis Toennisson, public affairs director at Miami University Middletown, said so far the university is off to a great start since its opened Aug. 22 at Greentree Academy with an enrollment of about 400 students.
The university’s Middletown branch is offering 25 different classes for its first semester including nursing classes and a Wednesday night group of classes designed to appeal to a student who already has a two-year registered nursing degree, but wanting to obtain a bachelor’s degree in nursing, she said.
Toennisson said the university also has an area of study called “health care exploration block,” which offers students classes in nutrition, physical activity and health and chemistry fundamentals who might be interested in majoring in health care.
She said students seem to be pleased with amenities at the center.
“The facilities are state-of-the-art. All the rooms have all the latest in audio-visual technology for the instructors, its very comfortable and it’s just everything you could hope for in a classroom. I think our students — the ones I’ve seen and talked to — are very happy,” Toennisson said.
The academy, a 31,585-square-foot facility, is located on 4.39 acres of land — donated by Atrium Medical Center — near the intersection of Ohio 122 and Interstate 75.
Middletown, along with the assistance of the Warren County Port Authority and the state, financed the project. After 20 years, the career center and Miami University will take possession of the building.
Contact this reporter at (513) 483-5219 or dewilson@coxohio.com.
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