For Immediate Release August 3, 2004

UNIVERSITY SYSTEM BOOSTS ABAC NURSING PROGRAM

TIFTON—One of the most innovative nursing programs in the nation at Abraham Baldwin College (ABAC) should continue to produce quality healthcare workers in an extraordinary fashion thanks to a $303,680 grant from the University System of Georgia.

Funded by the Board of Regents’ Intellectual Capital Partnership Program® (ICAPP®), the two-year grant assists in the funding of salaries for faculty members in ABAC’s highly successful Fast Track Nursing Program, which is part of a statewide University System ICAPP® Health Professionals Initiative.

“Our area hospitals are very satisfied with the results of this program,” Wanda Golden, Division Chair for Nursing and Health Services, said. “Thanks to the new funding, we’ll be able to offer advanced placement status to respiratory therapists and surgical technicians.”

In its first two years of operation, the Health Professionals Initiative gave paramedics and licensed practical nurses who qualified the opportunity to take nursing classes every Wednesday from 8 a.m. until 10 p.m. for one year to gain the skills necessary to take the Registered Nurse (R.N.) licensing exam.

Tift Regional Medical Center and Colquitt Regional Medical Center proved to be valuable corporate partners in Phase One of the ICAPP® Health Professionals Initiative by assisting with equipment, supplies, and financial reimbursement for instructors. South Georgia Medical Center will join Phase Two as a corporate partner.

Golden said 46 students entered the job market as a result of Phase One funding, and 23 additional jobs are guaranteed in Phase Two. Applications for the 2006 class are due Feb. 15, 2005.

“All these students still have fulltime jobs,” Golden said. “It’s a lot easier to work with your employer to get off one day a week. We have had students from Atlanta, Florida, and Louisiana in the program. Since we already had our Fast Track underway, we were the first of the ICAPP®-funded schools to turn out graduates.”

Phase One of the Healthcare Initiative represented a $6.75 million public/private partnership between Georgia health-care providers and included 13 University System colleges and universities. The initial program resulted in 632 new licensed healthcare professionals being produced through customized University System “fast-track programs” – far exceeding the original goal of 500 new graduates.

Phase Two of the Health Professionals Initiative will use the same structure as Phase One, leveraging the $2.05 million state commitment with $1.75 million from 26 private-employer partners charged with guaranteeing the program graduates jobs. Twelve colleges and universities will be on board for the project, which is expected to produce an additional 721 health-care professionals over the next two years.

Nursing is now the largest single major at Abraham Baldwin. Classes begin for the fall term on Aug. 23.

This and other news releases detailing the ICAPP® Health Professionals Initiative

may be found on the ICAPPR website at: www.icapp.org/employees/hpi.phtml

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