A Healthy Investment: Building the Facilities to Train the Next Generation of Nursing and Allied Health Professionals

A growing number of community colleges are investing in new facilities and programs to train health care workers in a variety of professions, including nursing, radiology, health information technology, physical therapy, dentistry, and surgical technology. Community colleges have historically offered job training programs in health care, but with the growth of the "medical industrial complex," the ongoing implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), and the aging baby boomer generation, the need for health care workers is expected to grow exponentially by 2020. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) predicts a 26 percent spike in jobs for registered nurses, a 32 percent increase in jobs for pharmacy technicians, a 28 percent increase in jobs for radiologic technologists, and a 33 percent increase in jobs for emergency medical technicians, among other sectors. This article discusses how the following community colleges are investing in their facilities and programs to prepare students and meet the demand for health professionals: (1) Elgin Community College (ECC), in Illinois, added new certificate programs and started offering non-credit continuing education workshops for health care practitioners; (2) A consortium of three Maryland community colleges--Carroll Community College, Frederick Community College, and Howard Community College--implemented an unusual approach to boosting their collective health care education offerings by building a facility that allows the three colleges to share their resources and programs; (3) Largo, Maryland, Prince George's Community College (PGCC) recently marked a significant expansion in its health care curriculum with the opening of its $43 million Center for Health Studies, featuring smart classrooms, a computer lab, simulation labs, and dozens of faculty and administrative offices; and (4) Houston Community College (HCC) Coleman College for Health Sciences offers associate degrees and certificates in twenty health science fields, but plans on branching out even more into the local community. A section titled "Meeting the Demand Online" discusses how the American Association of Community Colleges' Virtual Career Network (VCN) seeks to demystify the health care training and job-hunting process by linking student skills and educational backgrounds to careers in their desired fields.