The four partners — the city of Middletown, Atrium Medical Center, Miami University and Warren County Career Center — signed agreements for the estimated $7.4 million endeavor, said Mike Robinette, economic development director for Middletown.
Once complete, the academy will offer high school students and adults the opportunity to study for degrees in the health sciences. The project has been at least two years in the making, Robinette said.
“I think it will be a model that’s looked at certainly across the state, and maybe beyond,” he said.
The idea behind Greentree is to house high school, and potentially up to master’s level, students on hospital grounds, immersing them in the health care experience and creating a pipeline of qualified workers for the hospital.
Miami University Oxford was approved Monday by the Ohio Controlling Board to be the grant designee of about $1 million from the state. The city of Middletown, the financing agency, issued $5.2 million in bonds Tuesday to fund the construction.
Robinette said construction would start in early December and finish by July of next year. The Quandel Group Inc. received a $4.5 million contract to perform the work, and was given a notice to proceed Tuesday, Robinette said.
Miami will sublease space to several institutions, including Cincinnati State Technical and Community College.
Eric Fingerhut, chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents, called the project “exciting.”
“Delivering the full educational experience to a student in one place can lower costs and increase convenience,” Fingerhut said in a written statement.
Staff writer Jessica Heffner contributed to this report.
Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2551 or clevingston@coxohio.com.
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