Arapahoe Community College kicks o healthcare annex renovation

BY NINA JOSS NJOSS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Across the country, hospitals and other medical facilities are facing a healthcare worker shortage.

Colorado is certainly feeling these e ects, as it is projected to be lacking 64,000 nurses and “lower wage” health care workers by 2026, according to an analysis of the U.S. healthcare labor market by Mercer.

With a focus on addressing this shortage, Arapahoe Community College is expanding its healthcare programming with the creation of the ACC Health Innovation Center, a renovation to their Annex build- ing on its main campus in Littleton.

On May 4, ACC community members gathered at a celebration to kick o the renovation project, which will o cially begin on May 15.

“Prior to the pandemic … we knew that demand for a robust, well-trained healthcare workforce was great, and COVID simply served to amplify and exacerbate it,” said ACC President Stephanie Fujii at the event. “As an educational institution which seeks to be innovative and responsive, we have chosen a planned strategic approach to this project that will allow us to be at the forefront of cutting- edge practices to meet our community’s healthcare needs.”

ACC developed the proposal for their renovation project in 2017 and submitted it to the state legislature at the start of 2018, Fujii said. With an almost $8.4 million investment from the state and $3.5 million of ARPA funding from Arapahoe County, ACC is ready to set o on the rst phase of its renovation project. e institution also received $1.1 million in in Higher Education Emergency Relief funds from the U.S. Department of Education for the project.

As opposed to a traditional crosswalk, a raised pedestrian crossing means the entire crosswalk is elevated to the same level as the sidewalk. e structure aims to slow tra c and make it easier for drivers to see people crossing the street.

“It’s a tra c-calming device because it’s essentially a speed table,” said project manager Kyle Morris. “And then we’ve got ashing beacons that’ll help draw attention to crossing pedestrians. And also, the raised nature of the crosswalk helps put pedestrians in the driver’s eyes, which all increases driver yielding rates a lot higher than just a standard crosswalk.”

According to the Federal Highway Administration, raised crosswalks can reduce pedestrian crashes by 45% and ashing beacons, which ash as a person crosses the street, can reduce pedestrian crashes by 47%.