Ivy Tech Community College South Bend-Elkhart Campus
Expanded Health & Nursing Education ProgramIvy Tech Community College South Bend-Elkhart Campus
Expanded Health & Nursing Education Program
Our region, like many nationally, has been experiencing a rapidly growing demand for nurses and healthcare professionals. The current COVID-19 crisis has only exacerbated the local staffing shortage, stressing our healthcare systems and leaving them little choice but to attempt to bridge the gap by hiring expensive, temporary visiting nurses from outside the area.
To help address the local crisis, Ivy Tech has proposed expanding its pre-nursing/nursing program for local residents by approximately 50% over the next eighteen months. With over 90% of their graduates historically staying local, expansion of their program is anticipated to greatly aid local medical facilities and patient care in the community.
Expansion of the program would require the refurbishment of existing space on the third floor of the college’s South Bend campus, and the purchase of medical and training equipment, including hospital beds, patient simulators and accessories, and a medication dispensing system. The Foundation approved a matching grant to fund this timely request, which is relevant to all three of our primary areas of interest- health, education, and economic development.
