MCCC hosts roundtable to discuss proposed center for health/public safety

Monroe County Community College President Kojo Quartey welcomed state legislators, health care leaders and law enforcement to a roundtable discussion last Friday to talk about a proposed renovation and expansion of the college’s Gerald Welch Health Education Building.

“Training our healthcare and public safety workforce is critical for the health and safety of our communities,” said Quartey in a written statement. “This project will ensure that we meet this critical need and also serve as an economic catalyst through high-paying construction jobs.”

The college is seeking funding support from the state of Michigan and has submitted the renovation project to the state of Michigan as a capital outlay funding request in the 2024 fiscal year budget.

"The capital outlay project is a program in the state’s primary vehicle to help community colleges and universities fund capital projects on their campus,” said Josh Myers, executive director of The Foundation at MCCC and director of governmental and alumni affairs. “The way it functions is the state will select a few projects when they’re moving a capital outlay bill. If you’re selected to be part of those projects, the state will fund half of the project cost. … Whether we receive capital outlay or not, we will be doing some updates to the building. It will not be the scope that we need but the unfortunate reality is the labs that we have here are simply inadequate to meet our current demands.”

According to Myers, the estimated $16.1 million project would add critically needed classroom and laboratory spaces for MCCC’s registered nursing, practical nursing, certified nursing assistant and respiratory therapy programs.

The three-hour meeting was split into two sessions – allied health followed by public safety.

Evan Kureth, a second-year respiratory therapy student, took a few minutes to speak to the group before leaving to take an exam. The 28-year-old from Milan worked with ProMedica before going back to school. He said although the RT program and help from instructors has been wonderful, there have been issues with labs being split due to too many students making it difficult to concentrate.

“Some kind of renovation or expansion would potentially allow more students to get direct teaching,” Kureth said. “This program has put me on a path where I am actually excited to see where it leads.”

Dean of Health Sciences/Director of Nursing Kim Lindquist said the college’s current program has outgrown the facility forcing students to take classes in other buildings on campus. There is one 4-bed nursing skills lab for more than 160 health science students to share. The respiratory therapy program serves up to 60 students annually using a 3-bed station.

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Other community colleges comparable in size to MCCC have 10-bed nursing labs or larger along with simulation labs, an environment designed to offer students hands-on clinical experiences.

“This particular building is tired and it really impacts our ability to move forward,” Lindquist said.

The renovation plan, about 16,800 square feet of space, will target existing classrooms and labs. It will add three new, fully operational nursing labs with a total of 18 beds and two respiratory labs with six beds and would allow the expansion of MCCC’s growing criminal justice program.

The proposed project would relocate the criminal justice program and allow for space to develop it into an accredited police, fire and paramedic academy.

Under the direction of Dan Wood, associate professor of criminal justice, the college is looking to recruit potential MCCC students before high school.

Currently, MCCC and the Michigan State Police are partnering with local agencies to begin an Explorer Program this fall. The program is designed to offer anyone age 13-18 the opportunity to pursue a career in law enforcement and public safety.

The proposed 23,350-square-foot addition would include two nursing classrooms with seats for 40 students, three nursing skills labs, a computer lab, a simulation lab and control room, a lecture room, a general classroom, two new faculty offices and a staff lounge, two new unisex Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant bathrooms, and a lactation/meditation room.

Included with the project is a proposed change of the building’s name to the Welch Center for Health and Public Safety. The building is named after the late Gerald "Jerry" Welch, the college’s second president. Construction would start in July 2024 with completion in December 2025.

College officials reported that colleges and universities must dedicate a cost-share to receive the funding for projects approved through the state’s capital outlay process. Community colleges are required to provide at least 50% of the approved project costs, while universities have a lower threshold of 30% up to a maximum of $30 million. Due to their ability to levy local tax millages, community colleges are required to contribute a higher match rate.

Myers said MCCC already has the funding to cover the college’s required match and the Welch Center for Health and Public Safety is a shovel-ready project.

Legislators participating in the meeting included state Sen. Joe Bellino, R-Monroe, Rep. Will Bruck, R-Erie, Rep. Reggie Miller, D-Belleville, and Rep. Jamie Thompson, R-Brownstown Township.

Area health care and law enforcement representatives in attendance included Alicia Wafer, director of critical care support services at Henry Ford Hospital; Nicholas Prush, respiratory therapy program director and the University of Michigan-Flint; Lt. Stephen Borello, Michigan State Police Monroe Post commander; Kelley McMillan, interim assistant chief nursing officer at Corewell Health East; Allie Meyer, director of regional government relations for ProMedica Monroe Regional Hospital; Bob Van Klingeren, Bedford Township fire chief; Beyonka Swain-Mills, senior executive director for professional development for the Michigan State Police; Kevin Pooley, retired Sylvania, Ohio, police officer and criminal justice instructor at MCCC; Ken Laird, Monroe County Firefighters Association; Frank Nagle, director of community impact at ProMedica Monroe Regional Hospital; 1st Lt. Brian Buege, commander of recruiting and selection for the Michigan State Police; and Ken Piaga, recruiting manager for the Michigan State Police.

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: MCCC proposes expanding center for health/public safety