An audience consisting predominately of nursing students gathered on September 30, 2008 in CC501 to hear a presentation addressing the new nursing facility for Penn Valley. So what's the big news? Penn Valley is upgrading their nursing department to ensure that students have the latest up to date equipment and a new facility to house it.

Jackie Snyder, Chancellor of MCC, opened the presentation. She revealed that Penn Valley recently bought a new building on Broadway just two blocks south of our campus. The reason for the upgrade is because the demand in healthcare has become substantial. It is predicted that by the year 2010 the nursing field will double.

Next, President of Penn Valley, Bernard Franklin, expanded on the new building, explaining that the new facility will be equipped with state of the art medical and clinical equipment as well as a brand new simulator facility.

Nurses with Franklin, Snyder, Kinder

Franklin shared that the building was purchased from American Century for $3 million in December 2007. He also added that this buy was essential, due to the prediction that over the next 20 years three out of five jobs will be in healthcare.

Finally, the special guest for the presentation addressed the audience, "Of all the audiences so far, I have not seen a group so fine lookin' as you all." The special guest was Lieutenant Governor, Peter Kinder.

Kinder is also in charge of the Missouri Development Finance Board, of which he said that it "may be the most important board that no one knows about." The board has financed the IRS Building (which provides 2,500 jobs), Nelson museum, Truman Library, Performing Arts Center, and many more.

Kinder said, "The healthcare field is too often neglected and will no longer be neglected." Kinder also reports that he will "try to get nurses' pay up," to which the crowd of mostly nursing students applauded.

The nursing field according to Kinder is in grave danger. He says that there is a shortage of healthcare professionals and that if nothing is done by 2020 there will be a drastic shortage of nurses. Already we have seen the closing of Trinity Lutheran and Menorah Hospitals resulting in the net earnings going down.

Kinder reports, though, that the number of scholarships in higher education for the medical field has now quadrupled. These scholarships came from the Louis and Clark initiative which also gave us the funding for the new building. He encouraged our school to turn in the application to the Missouri Development Finance Board for the new nursing facility.

In his closing statement Kinder remarked, "I know the finest words an audience can hear are, 'in conclusion.' So in conclusion I will try to have the new facility financed. I am only one vote. Sometimes I get my way and sometimes I don't. Good luck students. Only a bit more to go in the semester."

Copyright 2008 Metropolitan Community College