Health Science Academy a 'revolutionary project,' officials say

Samantha Grier Construction continues at Greentree Health Science Academy near Atrium Medical Center, which will be open for incoming students in August. The facility will host classes to train high school students and adults for careers in medical fields, including nursing and phlebotomy.

ENLARGE PHOTO

Greentree Health Science Academy will host classes to train high school students and adults for careers in medical fields, including nursing and phlebotomy.

Samantha Grier Greentree Health Science Academy will host classes to train high school students and adults for careers in medical fields, including nursing and phlebotomy.

ENLARGE PHOTO

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By By Jessica Heffner, Staff Writer Updated 8:49 PM Sunday, May 29, 2011

MIDDLETOWN — Greentree Health Science Academy is done moving dirt and instead will start moving in students this August.

The five project partners — the city of Middletown, Atrium Medical Center, Miami University, Warren County Career Center and Cincinnati State Technical & Community College — will be scrambling to move in equipment and put in final touches to the $7.6 million, 31,000-square-foot center.

With less than three months before Miami University Middletown’s first students enter the facility Aug. 23, it’s all hands on deck.

“Sometimes it was easier it seemed to build the hospital than to build this project,” said John McKinney, project manager and director of facilities management services and corporate safety officer for Atrium Medical Center.

Officials call the academy a “revolutionary project” offering a “one-stop shop” for students in health degree fields from high school through college.

The three educational institutions will be working together to provide a “single pathway” in health education capable of funneling qualified applicants to medical centers such as Atrium, said Cathy Bishop-Clark, associate dean at Miami Middletown.

Greentree will not only make it easier for students to study in a health care field, but it may make it cheaper.

Miami, Cincinnati State and Warren County are discussing dual enrollment options that would offer college and high school credits simultaneously. Students will find the cost of classes comparable to MUM and Warren County’s main campus offerings but have the advantage of being closer to home, Bishop-Clark said.

There is an emphasis by the state, she said, for schools to reduce duplication and work together so students can move seamlessly through program with credits that will transfer to any higher learning site in Ohio.

Greentree is on the forefront of this effort. Ideally situated less than five minutes off Interstate 75 and next to a hospital offering hands-on experience, project partners expect to attract students all along the Dayton-Cincinnati corridor.

“We know we need employees in the health care field. Rather than each of us offer the same programs within 20 miles of each other, we are going to all come together at one site and offer the best of what we each have for the students,” Bishop-Clark said.

Coursework

Initial offerings will focus on high-demand programs at each institution. Classes will expand based on necessity and space as time progresses. Right now, master’s degrees are not offered and students will still have to suppliment coursework at each school’s main campus.

Miami Middletown already has begun enrolling students for the fall term.

The university will be offering 25 classes through a combination of day, evening and online courses. The programs include 11 nursing classes, epidemiology, moral issues in health care, Spanish 101 and pathophysiology. Bishop-Clark said MUM will be relocating all of its nursing labs to the Greentree campus.

“The nursing program and some (other) health-related courses, there is no additional space for them (at MUM) but there is demand for it,” Bishop-Clark said.

Cincinnati State, which is leasing Greentree classroom space from Miami, will begin by offering its paramedic certification program, McKinney said.

Warren County Career Center students interested in health care likely will spend a half a day at the center’s main campus and the rest of their day at Greentree, said Joel Anderson, director of curriculm and instruction.

“Our goal is to move all our clinical rotations to (Greentree) and stay down on that campus as much as Atrium will allow,” he said.

Already, 90 students are enrolled in the high school classes. Anderson said adult classes will begin enrollment soon. Students not part of the Warren County Career Center district but are interested in Greentree programs can participate through open enrollment at the center.

Eventually, the partners hope Greentree and the city of Middletown will become the region’s hub for health care and education.

“This is not just another regional campus. This is not a site,” said Bishop-Clark. “It’s a place where everyone will offer classes tied to a single pathway of education from high school through master’s degrees in the end, hopefully.”

Contact this reporter at (513)

705-2843

jheffner

@coxohio.com.