Southwest Missouri health care education alliance expands to include Evangel

The Alliance for Healthcare Education approved its first affiliate partner, welcoming Evangel University to the effort aimed at addressing workforce shortages in southwest Missouri.

In a 40-minute meeting Thursday at Cox North, the board of the alliance approved its inaugural affiliate agreement but members hinted other talks were in the works.

“Our founding partners have already set a national precedent with this innovative collaboration," said Shallina Goodnight, executive director of the Alliance, in a Thursday news release. "By integrating Evangel, we are taking a bold step to broaden our impact, enhancing our ability to fulfill our mission to prepare tomorrow's workforce and become the largest producer of health care professionals in the region.”

The alliance launched nearly a year ago as a partnership between CoxHealth, Missouri State University, Ozarks Technical Community College and Springfield Public Schools.

"This is an example of why we are bringing the alliance together. We are rethinking the way we can create more seamless educational pathways, not just for those in the alliance but for a lot of community members as well," said Max Buetow, president and CEO of CoxHealth. "This is a great place to start."

Buetow said Thursday that he hoped the Evangel affiliation will be the "first of many of these announcements in the coming months."

Under the terms of the agreement, Evangel students will be able to access the combined resources of the alliance — including instruction by Missouri State — as they pursue dual bachelor's degrees in nursing and health care starting with the 2025-26 year.

Evangel will pay up to $687 per credit hour for tuition and course fees, with $250 of that amount going to the alliance. Evangel would also pay a learning system fee of $3,686 per student, per academic year. Each student will also pay $837 in out-of-pocket fees for uniforms, supplies, and a background check.

In exchange, Evangel will gain access to the same services, activities and collaborative options as the founding partners.

“The link to practical and relevant training, as well as future employment opportunities that an affiliation with the Alliance provides, is invaluable for our students,” said Evangel President Mike Rakes, in the release. “This partnership enhances our educational offerings and provides our students with a high-quality education, hands-on nursing training, and an open door to a future career.”

Evangel students will complete prerequisite and general education courses on the Evangel campus and gain nursing-specific training at the alliance's facility on the Cox North campus.

“Evangel brings a pool of talented and committed students, and MSU brings an elite program with a strong track record of success to this Alliance partnership,” said Michael Tenneson, professor and chair of Evangel's Natural & Applied Sciences Department, in a release. “The beneficiaries of this partnership will be not only our students, but even more importantly, the people they will serve.”

OTC Chancellor Hal Higdon said he hopes the option will eventually be available to more education affiliates and students in "every school district within our region" that wants to have access.

"I was just with Evangel folks this morning. They were very excited," Higdon said at the board meeting. "Drury was there too and I mentioned we'd like to see them next."

Funding, next steps for alliance

In an update Thursday, the alliance reported the founding members collectively contributed nearly $700,000 and very little had been spent as of June 30.

Goodnight noted there were enough funds to cover operational costs for the coming year and with work ramping up on the operational side, a new staff member will be added to help.

This was the first board meeting since Gov. Mike Parson signed a budget for the 2025 fiscal year that included $15 million for the alliance.

"This is a sizeable gift. This is a game-changer gift," said Rob Fulp, chair of the alliance board.

The alliance will eventually take over space within the Cox College footprint inside of the Cox North campus. The funding will be used to renovate nearly 30,000 square feet of additional hospital space for the alliance.

It will build upon existing health care training programs at MSU and OTC and provide space for more high school students to explore health care careers and start taking courses toward certifications and degrees.

"This gives us a big jump forward in terms of what we want to create and in serving the community in the way we want to serve them," Goodnight said.

The alliance has been attending community meetings and is participating with the Greater Ozarks Cooperative School Districts, a group that shares training, best practices and innovative programs in the region.

"Those community touch points are important as we try to increase brand awareness and get the community involved in what we are doing, not just by going to them but also bringing people inside these walls as well," Goodnight said. "Some of them, in their first time here are pleasantly surprised at how gorgeous this facility is."

Cox College's 'teach out' plan

As the alliance grows, it will eventually take over the space at Cox North occupied by the private Cox College, which is part of CoxHealth.

Amy Townsend, who became president of Cox College this summer, provided an update Thursday on how the college is working with the Higher Learning Commission on a plan to serve existing students. At some point in the future, Cox College will cease to exist or issue degrees in its name.

The alliance, which will leverage training available by Missouri State and OTC, aims to expand training and provide it in a more cost-effective way.

"They have expressed a lot of confidence in our seamless transition," she said. "They feel like we have a good plan in place for the close-out."

Townsend said the last "admissions cycle" will be this fall for students starting in January. The last cohort of students will graduate in May 2028.

"We'll be graduating some programs out prior to that," she said.

Townsend added: "We've been working on some plans for reorganization of the college to spread duties so as people are transitioning to new opportunities, it's not such a big loss. That has really been the focus of the summer. We're also working to ensure key people stay at the college until the end so students don't feel the transition so much."

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Evangel University joins alliance to educate health care workers