Alro Steel and the Alvin Glick Foundation made a generous $1.5 million donation to Jackson College as part of the Jackson Healthcare Workforce Initiative. In a special event Wednesday at the America 1 Credit Union Event Center, donations were announced for Jackson College, $1.5 million for Spring Arbor University, and $5 million for Henry Ford Health Jackson to support and strengthen the healthcare workforce in our community.
“We are delighted and deeply gratified by the impact that this is going to have sustainably at our institution,” said Dr. Daniel J. Phelan, president of Jackson College. “Know that this gift has impact, it has power, it has a future.”
With this gift, Jackson College will be able to better educate students in these important fields, which are in high demand. Co-Interim Chief Academic Officer/Dean of Health Sciences, Careers & Technical Trades Heather Ruttkofsky shared the vision. Imagine a center that fully simulates what nurses and healthcare professionals will find in a hospital -- a team environment working with a patient, integrating current and emerging technologies with augmented reality, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence (AI) to simulate and bring situations to life. It will be a holistic healthcare setting from birth to death, giving students the opportunity to gain experience through holograms, high-tech simulators and more.
“We want to create a space where learning no longer appears to be a classroom but instead, what they really walk into,” Ruttkofsky said. “I cannot thank you all enough.”
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Jackson College currently has nearly 400 students enrolled in healthcare related fields, and many more working on related prerequisites toward future study.
The College offers a variety of healthcare career programs for students, including:
- Allied Health
- Cardiac Sonography
- Dental Hygiene
- Emergency Medical Services
- EKG Technician
- General Sonography
- Health Sciences Foundations
- Medical Assistant
- Medical Insurance Coder/Biller
- Medical Office Support
- Nursing/Registered Nurse
- Nursing/Licensed Practical Nurse
- Patient Care Technician
- Radiography
- Respiratory Therapy
- Surgical Technology
- Vascular Sonography
Visit the website to learn more about any program, www.jccmi.edu/academics/.