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 building 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 pro-