Johnson County Community College and Olathe Medical Center have signed a letter of intent to develop a $15 million health services education center on the medical center’s campus.
The medical center has agreed to donate 5.84 acres, valued at $1.65 million, for the project’s first phase, medical center spokesman Mike Jensen said Wednesday.
Terry Calaway, president of JCCC, said the project’s first phase will include an expansion of the college’s nursing programs and later could include a variety of other allied health programs.
“We would be providing state-of-the-art facilities for students,” Calaway said, and giving them clinical experiences on site through the medical center. JCCC’s campus is almost built out, he said. The college has 19,100 students enrolled for credit classes, and 25,000 noncredit students.
“Not only are we working hard at building this relationship with this wonderful medical community, but also meeting a dramatic need and shortage of health career professionals,” he said. “Across the board, we hear of shortages in the nursing ranks in our region, but also shortages of other health professionals, and we think the college is perfectly positioned to do it.”
JCCC would pay for the center from existing funds in its capital outlay accounts, Calaway said. Equipping the center probably will cost an additional $3 million to $4 million, he said.
The center will have at least a two-story building containing about 50,000 square feet, Jensen said. It would accommodate at least 2,500 students, Calaway said.
JCCC and the medical center both would appoint administrators for the program, and JCCC would oversee it.
Construction is expected to start within 18 months to 24 months, Calaway said, allowing for time to choose an architect and general contractor and finalize the project’s scope.
Reprinted from the Biz Journal