Onvida Health & Arizona Western College break ground on new Health Career Center
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - Onvida Health and Arizona Western College (AWC) broke ground for their new Health Career Center in Yuma on Tuesday.
We spoke with both who shared how this new building will benefit local healthcare and higher education.
President & CEO of Onvida Health Dr. Robert Trenschel and President of AWC Dr. Daniel Corr both say this new Health Career Center will help keep future healthcare professionals close to home.
Dr. Trenschel says, "They can get the training here, they don't have to leave for the training. They can work here, they don't have to leave to work elsewhere…Train, educate, and retain talent that's here in Yuma."
Dr. Corr adds, "It's going to provide that pipeline of trained healthcare workers right here in our community, that's so needed and so valuable."
A small town with big talent.
Doctor Corr says there's no shortage of high-achieving students in Yuma, but a lack of resources can lead them to bigger cities: "If they can't get the training here in Yuma that they want, they'll have to go to Phoenix, Tucson, or Flagstaff to get that training, and we don't want that, right? A lot of people who grow up in Yuma want to stay in Yuma and this building will provide those programs and opportunities to stay in their hometown."
Located about a block away from Onvida Health next to the Yuma Rehabilitation Hospital, the new building will be two stories and approximately 60,000 square feet.
It will be able to support a broad range of training like patient care, research, and data and analytics.
Dr. Corr says, "It will obviously be a very high-tech building. It's going to have an elaborate simulation lab that will train your students. $56,000,000 so a lot of thought has gone into it. It's going to be amazing when it's done."
A current AWC student, Jamie Frazier, shares how this career center can benefit her and her classmates: "I'm really grateful that they're starting to do something like that and realize the opportunities that it's going to give for students especially because the hospital offers so many varieties that AWC doesn't."
The construction of the new building will take around 18 months.
