Darrell brings heathcare training center update to ‘Rooster Booster’
The vice president of the regional healthcare training facility being created in Owensboro said Thursday the facility will have state-of-the-art technology that will engage students, while creating healthcare professionals with quality jobs.
Bart Darrell, vice president of the Commonwealth West Healthcare Workforce Innovation Center, gave an update about the training facility Thursday morning at the Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce’s “Rooster Booster” breakfast.
The center will be in the former Owensboro Health business center on Frederica Street. The center is a partnership between a variety of colleges and school systems, and Owensboro Health.
Some of the colleges and universities involved include Kentucky Wesleyan College, Brescia University, University of Louisville School of Nursing and regional community colleges.
The center will provide training in a variety of areas, such as nursing, lab work, radiology, behavioral health community health and other heath professions. The facility will train in about 30 different professions, Owensboro Health president and CEO Mark Marsh said last year.
With the facility, “we are going to widen the pathways for healthcare professionals,” Darrell told the audience at the Owensboro Convention Center. The facility is needed regionally to address a “crisis” in health care.
“COVID ran a lot of people out of healthcare,” Darrell said.
The stress of caring for the sick and them dying burned out workers, he said.
“They were tired of seeing people die,” Darrell said.
To acquire the $38 million for the center, Owensboro-area lawmakers and Owensboro Health officials worked with other legislators to gather support.
Darrell thanked Rep. Suzanne Miles, a member of the GOP House leadership, and Rep. DJ Johnson, for their work on the project, and said the center was an example of the region addressing pressing issues.
“We could either wait for someone to solve this problem, or we could do it ourselves,” Darrell said. “That’s who we are in Owensboro.”
The center will be regional, working with students in surrounding counties, through the center, remote learning and mobile classrooms.
“We need healthcare professionals everywhere, in all of our counties,” Darrell said.
The programs would reach students in K-12 schools and colleges, he said.
The center won’t offer degrees, but secondary school students will be able to receive dual credit for classes.
“We will have the combination of resources and technology like no other place in America,” Darrell said.
That will include virtual reality, and technology students are already using, Darrell said.
“We are going to teach kids the way they already learn,” Darrell said. The center will provide education and resources throughout the region, Darrell said.
“Regional means you go where the people are,” Darrell said.
By James Mayse Messenger-Inquirer