OCTC considering second mobile classroom
Attendees from the Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce’s Rooster Booster October breakfast tour the HealthForce One, mobile technology center set up in front of the Owensboro Convention Center.
HealthForce Kentucky, a multi-county healthcare careers training initiative, unveiled its mobile medical facility, “HealthForce One,” in October. Due to the overwhelming response, the organization is now considering the possibility of adding a second unit.
The Council on Postsecondary Education approved Owensboro Community & Technical College’s request for the mobile unit capital project on Nov. 17, which OCTC President Scott Williams said is a formality, but could jumpstart a second mobile unit, if approved by the HealthForce Kentucky board.
“There’s a limit up to which we can purchase as a public entity, and above that, we have to get approval,” he said. “At the time, and I think we’re still discussing it with the HealthForce Kentucky board, we felt like if we wanted the opportunity to purchase a second mobile unit then we wanted to get approval for that.”
Bart Darrell, vice president of the Commonwealth West Healthcare Workforce Innovation Center, said the board would be making the decision to add a second unit “very soon.”
“It’s something that we’ve been studying since the day we received the first one, if not before,” he said. “We’re very close to finalizing our decision on that.”
Williams said the HealthForce Kentucky board will be considering a second mobile unit at its next meeting, which is scheduled for Wednesday.
Darrell and Williams said they have been very pleased with the popularity of “HealthForce One.”
“I am not the slightest bit surprised,” Darrell said. “I had very little doubt that the demand was there and we knew the talent was there in our region.”
Williams said he was hopeful and the outcome has exceeded his expectations.
“Even the education community has been amazed and are able to do things they weren’t able to do before,” he said.
Mike Rodgers, chief institutional officer at OCTC, said he believes the mobile unit is one way for the college to address the shortage of healthcare workers.
“There is no silver bullet to meeting (the need),” he said. “You can tackle the nursing shortage or the EMT shortage, but the way the mobile unit is designed allows us to not only tackle the nursing shortage or EMT shortage but anything in healthcare can be tackled with just a reconfiguration of the unit.”
Rodgers said if a second mobile unit is approved, it would allow for teachings in more than one location, or multiple teachings in one location.
“They can be side-by-side or at two different locations in western Kentucky and teach two different aspects of healthcare,” he said.
Darrell said the mobile unit could potentially be a launching pad for the future of healthcare.
“You’re going to see healthcare delivered this way much more than it ever has,” he said. “We think we’re offering students a jumpstart in training on the type of things I think will become more commonplace.”
By Karah Wilson M