CHAPTER 13
COLLEGE OF HEALTH PROFESSIONS In the mid-2000s, hospitals in the U.S. faced record shortages in critical nursing and medical staff positions, and future projections were even bleaker: Experts projected that within ten years, there would be more than a million vacancies for registered nurses and other qualified professionals in the health care field. Educational institutions simply couldn’t keep up with the demand; healthcare organizations worried about the consequences. Governor Mike Leavitt had joined President George W. Bush in Washington as Secretary of Health and Human Services in 2005. Confronted with the dire circumstances facing America’s healthcare, he wondered why the issue couldn’t be alleviated using the WGU model. It was exactly the type of big problem that WGU, with its accessibility, scalable growth model, and partnerships with corporate America, was equipped to tackle. And with the success of the Teachers College, WGU had already debunked the concern that online education couldn’t work with high-touch professions. In 2006, WGU founded the College of Health Professions with two degrees targeting adults already working in healthcare: an MBA in Healthcare Management and an M.S. in Health Education. Soon after, the university began laying the groundwork for a nursing prelicensure program leading to an RN license. Hospital Corporation of America (HCA), signed on as the first corporate partner. “We are facing a severe national shortage of health
professionals and need more forward-thinking solutions like this,” said Tom May, President of the Far West Division of HCA. Soon after, three more healthcare corporations, Cedars-Sinai, Kaiser Permanente, and Tenet Healthcare, partnered with WGU, advising on the standards and practices essential for skilled employees to master. The collaboration led to a focus on nursing degrees, including master’s degrees in Leadership and Education and an RN to BSN degree in 2007. In 2009, WGU launched the first online, comptency-based prelicensure program in Nursing.
“CCNE accreditation represents a major milestone for WGU’s nursing education programs. It demonstrates that our approach, which combines competency-based learning with comprehensive clinical experience, will produce graduates who are well prepared to fulfill their roles in patient care, nurse education, and leadership.” -Mary Anne Rea-Ramirez, Director of Nursing Programs, WGU. 85