HEALTHCARE
Healthcare is a dynamic and ever-evolving field, meaning healthcare education has to constantly adapt to new methods, trends and techniques.
Today’s growing population of aging Americans and individuals with disabilities or other chronic conditions, is outpacing the number of workers with the knowledge and skills to effectively care for them. Like other regions across the country, Rowan and Cabarrus counties face a shortage of certified healthcare professionals.
2016 brought several exciting developments for healthcare education at the College, including the second annual health symposium, bringing together local healthcare educators, workers and employers to discuss some of the most challenging topics in the field. Additionally, the College completed the North Campus additions and renovations projects, a key component of which was an addition and renovations to the College’s Health & Science Building. Facilities for the dental assisting and radiography programs are now fully up-to-date and the new occupational therapy assistant program is slated to accept students in the fall of 2017, with the physical therapist assistant program beginning soon after.
The College was also pleased to celebrate the ribbon cutting of the Novant Health Nursing Skills Lab at the College’s North Carolina Research Campus facility, a naming opportunity stemming from a $40,000 donation from five local Novant Health facilities to the Building a More Prosperous Community major gifts campaign.
“At Novant Health, we believe that the future of healthcare is based on well-educated students,” said Dr. Dari Caldwell, president of Novant Health Rowan Medical Center and Rowan-Cabarrus Board of Trustees member. “Rowan-Cabarrus healthcare programs have a well-documented track record of success in both student performance and program recognition. We are proud to support the College in developing our local healthcare workforce, and share in their desire to train the most qualified candidates.”
On top of commemorating the College’s first-ever naming opportunity, Rowan-Cabarrus celebrated meeting a milestone in fundraising for Healthcare Education as a part of the Building a More Prosperous Community Major Gifts Campaign.
The Rowan-Cabarrus Foundation met a $300,000 challenge grant from The Leon Levine Foundation for the support of healthcare education.
“This is a huge accomplishment for Rowan-Cabarrus. I can’t thank The Leon Levine Foundation enough for their confidence in our ability to meet this challenge and secure the funds we need for healthcare education,” said President Spalding.
With the help of the innovative grant from The Leon Levine Foundation, the Rowan-Cabarrus Foundation is able to take a big step towards supporting the College and community’s healthcare education needs.
“We are excited to partner with an organization committed to a mission so close to the vision of our Founder,” said Tom Lawrence, executive director of The Leon Levine Foundation. “We were proud to award the challenge grant to the Rowan-Cabarrus Foundation, and are extremely pleased that Rowan and Cabarrus residents and companies have provided support to meet the grant goal. We look forward to the success of Rowan-Cabarrus Community College in meeting the local workforce development needs for the growing healthcare resources in the region.”
The Leon Levine Foundation offered $300,000 to the College’s Foundation for healthcare education if the healthcare education gifts within the Foundation’s Building a More Prosperous Community Major Gifts Campaign reached $1.2 million by May 31, 2016.
The Rowan-Cabarrus Foundation reached its $1.2 million goal with the generous support of numerous community members and organizations like Novant Health and the Rowan County Commission, whose donations helped the campaign meet the challenge grant’s goals.