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Columbus State unveils first look at OhioHealth Center for Health Sciences

New academic building will support college’s initiative to expand talent pipeline for region’s healthcare providers

Campus News | Friday, November 22, 2024

OhioHealth Center for Health Sciences at Columbus State

Architectural rendering of the OhioHealth Center for Health Sciences from the perspective of the southwest corner of Cleveland Avenue and East Spring Street.

Columbus State Community College’s new 80,000-square-foot academic building for healthcare education will allow the college to double graduates in in-demand fields while modernizing instructional space for the next generation of nurses and other healthcare professionals.

The OhioHealth Center for Health Sciences, which is slated to break ground in fall 2025, will provide upgraded labs, simulation spaces, classrooms and other student success amenities as the college works with the region’s healthcare providers to double the talent pipeline over a 10-year period. The college announced the project in June 2023 as part of a partnership with OhioHealth that will supply trained professionals to all of the region’s healthcare providers.

Columbus State is unveiling the building design prepared by project architect Moody Nolan. The three-story building will be located at the southwest corner of Cleveland Avenue and E. Spring Street. The project is going through required approval processes. The OhioHealth Center for Health Sciences is expected to open by the start of the 2027-2028 academic year.

“This is an important step forward in meeting our commitment to rapidly scale up home-grown healthcare talent as we create updated learning spaces to meet central Ohio’s needs,” said Martin Maliwesky, Columbus State’s senior vice president of academic affairs and chief academic officer. “This building represents another investment of Franklin County bond proceeds to provide the in-demand skills critical to the ongoing prosperity of our region.”

The building has been designed to enhance student success while putting learning on display. Moody Nolan has worked with academic program leaders to support use by the healthcare disciplines Columbus State offers, especially nursing, respiratory care and surgical technology.

Columbus State is funding its healthcare talent initiative through an innovative $120 million partnership with OhioHealth to increase the number of professionals in five key fields: nursing, surgical technology, medical imaging, respiratory therapy and sterile processing. OhioHealth created a $25 million endowment to support instructional and administrative needs as college healthcare programs grow, and Columbus State is utilizing bond proceeds approved by Franklin County residents to fund construction of the $66.5 million academic building bearing OhioHealth’s name.

After the OhioHealth Center for Health Sciences is completed, the college plans to renovate an existing building, Union Hall, to update further dedicated healthcare education spaces. Philanthropy, including a $1.5 million gift from the Osteopathic Heritage Foundations, will support new college instructional equipment for healthcare education totaling $12 million.

“This new facility and expansion of programming to respond to the region’s needs need for skilled healthcare professionals is critical,” said Lorina Wise, chief human resources officer at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and a member of the Columbus State Board of Trustees. “Removing barriers for accessibility and affordability to quality education and training programs opens the door for many people who are interested in meaningful careers in the wide range of health professions that our institutions need.”

According to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, the central Ohio healthcare sector will add 24,000 new jobs by 2030. Currently, registered nurse is the most listed job in Ohio at 14,361 openings statewide. Ten of the top 35 Ohio employers with currently listed jobs are hospital systems including OhioHealth, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, and Nationwide Children’s Hospital, and also healthcare-oriented organizations such as Walgreens and CVS.

Columbus State’s growth in healthcare programs

Healthcare programs are among the fastest-growing academic programs at Columbus State. The college has experienced double-digit enrollment growth in its healthcare programs over the past three semesters, up more than 15 percent from Autumn 2023.

Fueling further growth, Columbus State  added its first bachelor’s degree – a Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing – in Autumn 2024.

Working with healthcare employers, Columbus State has been able to enhance options for students through a number of partnerships.

  • The college has leveraged OhioHealth’s career pathway at area high schools to create a cohort of Dublin City Schools students who are completing coursework toward becoming a Clinical Laboratory Assistant. OhioHealth’s program engages interested high school students in relevant coursework completion, job shadowing and then entry-level employment during senior year, after which they complete their degree or certificate while taking advantage of work tuition reimbursement benefits. The college is seeking to grow similar cohort opportunities in respiratory therapy, surgical technology, and nursing.
  • Columbus State students can now choose to receive their surgical technology education from the college in a dedicated setting on the campus of The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, a scalable model the college hopes to realize with other major regional healthcare network employers. Adding program capacity outside of Columbus State’s campuses and regional learning centers increases the number of surgical technology students the college can serve.
  • Nationwide Children’s Hospital is currently sponsoring select students in respiratory therapy and medical laboratory technology programs, and will launch additional sponsorship for pharmaceutical technician education in the near future.

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