Brescia looking to add physician assistant program
Brescia University, the Catholic, liberal arts focused institution located in Owensboro, announced at the most recent Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce Rooster Booster breakfast plans to seek accreditation for a physician assistant program.
This opportunity is being made possible through partnerships from the university, HealthForce Kentucky and Owensboro Health.
“HealthForce Kentucky has been integral in helping the university start this accreditation process for our potential physician assistant program,” said Lauren McCrary, Ed.D, the university’s executive vice president and chief of staff. “The organization has helped provide funds for the initial salaries of the new staff members that the university will need to begin the accreditation process.”
HealthForce Kentucky is a collaborative effort among nine colleges and universities from 16 Kentucky counties. The organization strives to provide access to the highest levels of instruction and training for careers in the field of healthcare. The organization receives funding from the state of Kentucky in hopes to address the growing shortage of health care professionals across the country, according to the nonprofit’s website.
“Brescia University proposed to HealthForce Kentucky an excellent and innovative plan to create a much-needed physician program,” said Bart Darrell, the nonprofit’s chancellor. “Our team and board of directors are proud to collaborate with Brescia to do the work necessary to make the program a reality. Bringing a high caliber physician assistant program to Owensboro will make a strong healthcare network in our region even stronger, as well as make Owensboro and the surrounding communities an even more attractive place to live and work.”
One of those new staff members is Blair Whitaker who will act as Brescia’s physician assistant program director.
According to McCrary, Whitaker will be tasked with helping to design the physician assistant program that will be offered by the university.
“Blair has been there and done this before. She has experience and I’m confident she will be a vital asset to the university as we move forward with this accreditation process,” McCrary said.
Whitaker obtained a bachelor of science degree in biology with a minor in psychology from the University of Kentucky, and went on to receive a master of physician assistant studies from Grand Valley State University. She is a nationally certified physician assistant licensed to practice medicine in Kentucky, Indiana and Georgia. She was hired as Sullivan University’s first faculty member for the school’s physician assistant program and has also worked for South University — Savannah and the University of the Cumberlands Northern Kentucky Campus.
McCrary also said that Dr. Brent Hayden, MD, will act as the program’s medical director.
“We’ve got an asset with Dr. Hayden with Owensboro Health who will be acting as the program’s medical director. He has already been a huge help with getting the process up and going, along with helping to strengthen the university’s partnership with the hospital,” she said.
Hayden is a graduate of the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, and he completed his residency at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center with an emphasis in psychiatry and internal medicine along with completing a fellowship in infectious disease.
McCrary explained that the university is seeking provisional accreditation through the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA). This is awarded when the university is able to demonstrate the program’s ability to meet the ARC-PA standards.
“Right now, we’re working on designing the program specifics and pathways to be accepted into the program. We’re focusing on developing plans to prepare high school students for program enrollment, a degree tract for those who are already or will be students at Brescia and for students who could transition from a two-year community college, like OCTC, into the program,” she said. “We’re still considering whether we’ll have a specific ‘pre-PA’ degree or if we can just add classes of importance to our existing biology path.”
While developing those plans and details, a site visit of the school will be conducted around September of 2025, McCrary said.
“This visit is to make sure that Brescia can accommodate the program. They’ll look at our program specifics and make sure that we have adequate instructors and space, just everything the university will need to successfully offer the degree,” she said.
And, as long as the site visit goes accordingly, Brescia will be placed on the spring agenda to be provisionally accepted to offer the accreditation, McCrary said.
“So, we hope to have our initial cohort of 30 begin in August of 2026, with an additional 30-student cohort to begin in the fall of 2027,” she said.
McCrary said that this is such an exciting time for Brescia.
“Next year the university will be celebrating its 100th year, so what better way to bring us into the next 100 years than by offering such a vital degree to students in our area,” she said. “This is a really big deal which will bring Brescia to the next level and we’re so grateful for where these opportunities will lead.”
She also said that she’s frequently asked by current university students for letters of recommendation for physician assistant programs across the country.
“And it would be amazing if Brescia can help further support those students here at our Owensboro campus instead of sending them out to other institutions,” she said.
The program will be 27 months long and involve a year of in-classroom learning, which can be a combination of online classes and traditional in-person classes, McCrary explained, and another year of clinical experience which “is where our partnership with Owensboro Health works for the university.”
By offering the physician assistant program, McCrary said the mission of Brescia University and of the Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph remains the focus of the school.
“The Sisters emphasized providing education to those seeking careers to serve others, and the university is continuing that tradition by helping to provide future medical professionals,” she said.
By Michelle Ruxer Messenger- Inquirer