Education Guide 2023: Colleges and universities partner with health care systems to invest in future workforce

Top photo caption: Tulane University graduate student Elizabeth Cummins uses an acoustic tweezing device in Professor Damir Khismatullin’s lab, as part of a grant to develop technology for the assessment of severe cases of infectious diseases. Photos courtesy Tulane University, Delgado Community College and University of New Orleans.

Higher education institutions in New Orleans have invested heavily in preparing health care workers of the future with state-of-the-art nursing simulation labs and nurse training centers on their campuses in partnership with local healthcare systems.

Earlier this year, Xavier University of Louisiana and Ochsner Health recently announced an agreement to establish a joint College of Medicine, a new standalone College of Medicine, in New Orleans.

At Loyola University, second year nursing students get hands-on-experience at the Loyola Ochsner Nursing Simulation Lab, which is equipped with high-fidelity mannequins capable of mimicking medical conditions that improve or deteriorate based on the intervention provided by the nursing student, said Rachel Rachel Hoormann, vice president of marketing and communications.

“These lifelike mannequins are highly complex and responsive, designed to react like humans” she said.

In addition to the traditional Bachelor of Science in Nursing at Loyola, the university is adding new advanced programs in anesthesia, adult gerontology, acute care and nurse midwifery. The university also offers an accelerated bachelor of science in nursing for those who already have a bachelor’s degree.

Delgado Community College held a ribbon-cutting in April for its new $44 million Ochsner Center for Nursing and Allied Health, the contemporary glass-walled building on the corner of City Park Avenue and Orleans Avenue. The building consolidates the Charity School of Nursing and Allied Health programs in a state-of-the-art facility that provides authentic hospital and clinical environments for students studying nursing, respiratory therapy, surgical technology, pharmacy technology and dozens of other healthcare-related programs.

In early 2023, Tulane University announced a partnership with LCMC Health that will include the revitalization of the Charity Hospital building and repurposing of the Tulane Medical Center building downtown to create a thriving center of cutting-edge research and innovation. Through the partnership, Tulane Medical Center, Lakeview Regional Medical Center and Tulane Lakeside Hospital will join LCMC Health.

Together, Charity and Tulane Medical Center will house a new nursing program, clinical research programs, educational space for students and an exponential increase in space dedicated to research, graduate programs in public health, social work, and medicine.

Delgado Community College conferred degrees, diplomas and certificates to 1,285 students in May.

The University of New Orleans (UNO) has added two new niche concentrations in its MBA program and Tulane has brought back a civil engineering minor through its Department of River-Coastal Science and Engineering department. The minor has not been offered for nearly twenty years, since before Hurricane Katrina.

Beginning in the fall 2023, Master of Business Administration students at the University of New Orleans (UNO) will be able to pursue a concentration in sport business.

“The greater New Orleans area has a robust college and professional sports scene with abundant employment opportunities. The MBA with a concentration in sport business provides students with a solid business foundation while utilizing electives to gain industry-specific knowledge,” said Pam Kennett-Hensel, dean of the College of Business Administration.

It will comprise three courses: Sport Leadership & Management, Sport Marketing, and Sport Industry Sponsorship & Fundraising.

Students who pursue the sport business concentration will have access to experiential learning opportunities among the variety of professional and semi-professional teams, sports betting and gaming venues in the region as well as championship sporting events, said Kennett-Hensel.

Another new management concentration offered this fall at UNO’s College of Business Administration will be supply chain, operations and

UNO’s spring commencement ceremony at the UNO Lakefront Arena on May 19, 2023.

logistics (ScOL). Students will be able to study a conceptual ScOL foundation and its applications in the competitive national and global economy.

Recent global developments like COVID-19 have stressed the world’s supply chains and created a need for supply chain professionals, said Dong-Jun (DJ) Min, UNO marketing professor and chair of the Management and Marketing Department.

“This specialized concentration aims to fill the gap in undergraduate supply chain education in New Orleans,” Min said.

At Tulane University, the Department of River-Coastal Science and Engineering is adding a civil engineering minor for the upcoming 2023-24 academic year.

On the student housing front, both Loyola University and Tulane University are adding hundreds of beds for students. Later in 2023, Tulane will open two new student residential halls that will add approximately 700 beds to its on-campus residence population. Plans are underway at Loyola University to construct a new residence hall on the site of Mercy Hall to provide students with apartment-style housing.

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