Photos courtesy of the Cleveland Clinic
CMSD NEWS BUREAU
8/29/2018
Students in the Allied Health program at the Martin Luther King Jr. Campus are training to work in a professional healthcare setting – and now they feel as if they have already reached their goal.
The Cleveland Clinic, Case Western Reserve University and partners have renovated the campus nursing lab. The overhaul included 15 new beds and mattresses, painting, lighting, ceilings, cabinets, curtains and artwork.
“I love it, I love the construction,” said Delmika Smith, a senior who is studying to be a state tested nursing assistant and wants to eventually become a nurse practitioner. “It’s like I am actually at a healthcare facility.”
Clinic and Case Western Reserve officials visited the campus last week to cut a ribbon to the lab and celebrate the makeover, a community benefits commitment made to the city in conjunction with construction projects.
About 60 students are in the STNA program. Alicia Cross, who has worked more than 20 years for the District instructing medical and nursing assistant students, fought tears as she spoke at the ribbon cutting. She said the lab needed the facelift.
“I’ve been waiting for this day for so long,” Cross said. “When I came back from summer break and walked in there, I was just amazed.”
The renovation added to a list of contributions that the Clinic has made to the District.
Other assistance includes hiring dozens CMSD students each year as interns, both in clinical and non-clinical positions, providing externships for teachers and having staff work with students on capstone projects and mock job interviews. The Clinic recently hired three graduates of the Martin Luther King Jr. STNA program to work in its Heart and Vascular Institute.
“They have a nursing track, we are a healthcare facility,” said Vickie Johnson, the Clinic’s senior director of community relations. “We want to hire from the community, and we want to invest in young people as soon as possible so they are career ready.”
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