Bilingual Nursing Fellowship Program Nominated for Prestigious 2009 Bellwether Award of the Community College Futures Assembly
The Community College Futures Assembly has selected The Bilingual Nursing Fellowship Program of South Mountain and GateWay Community Colleges as one of the 10 Bellwether Finalist Winners in the Workforce Development category for 2009.
Tony Bracamonte, Program Director at SMCC, and Dr. Margi Schultz, Nursing Director of GateWay Community College, will present information about the program on Jan. 26 at the organization's gathering in Orlando, Fla. Also included will be a video about the program, which will feature bilingual nursing students; Peter Fine, CEO of Banner Health; Dr. Rufus Glasper, Chancellor of The Maricopa Community College District; Dr. Ken Atwater, South Mountain Community College President; and Dr. Eugene Giovannini, President of GateWay Community College.
South Mountain Community College, 7050 S. 24th St., and GateWay Community College, 108 N. 40th St., are two of the 10 Maricopa Community Colleges.
The BNFP, which is a partner with Banner Health System, is designed to increase the number of registered nurses who are able to read, write and fluently speak both Spanish and English.
To date, 86 students in the program have earned their Registered Nurse (RN) degrees; 133 have completed the Licensed Practical Nurses (LPN) requirements; and 155 have completed their Certified Nursing Assistant program (CNA).
By 2010, BNFP projects that the program will have produced a total of 185 Spanish-speaking Registered Nurses. Ninety percent of BNFP graduates, including the 35 percent of nurses who work for Banner Health in inner-city hospitals, work for hospitals that serve a large number of Latino patients. The first cohort or "pilot" of 27 students started classes in spring 2003 and finished in fall 2006. From this cohort, the program graduated 19 RNs, four LPNs, and three CNAs.
U.S. Congressman Ed Pastor has been instrumental in securing funds for this important program.
Meanwhile, the Futures Assembly meeting is targeted to college trustees and administrators, and the awards are among the most prestigious presented to community colleges throughout the nation.