How a small campus is tackling America’s medical staff crisis
Photos courtesy of Olympic College
By QUINN PROPST
Ward Media Staff Reporter
Olympic College is nearing completion of the first phase of its two-phase plan to transform the Poulsbo campus into a regional hub for health sciences.
The phased plan will help the college expand its healthcare division to address the critical shortage of medical professionals in Kitsap and surrounding counties.
“Olympic College is addressing a national need for skilled workers on a local level with the expansion of healthcare programs at our Bremerton and Poulsbo campuses,” said Olympic College President, Marty Cavalluzzi, Ph.D.
Grace Yaley, a graduate of Olympic College’s Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) program, experienced firsthand the benefits of the college’s approach to healthcare education.
“My experience in the Health & Science program at Olympic College was very positive,” Yaley said. “I was enrolled in the Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) program, where small class sizes allowed for a more personalized learning experience. This close-knit environment allowed us to have great connections with professors and gave us some great support. The support was new to me, as I hadn’t experienced it while earning my Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology Pre-Healthcare at a larger university.”
Yaley also credited the program with helping her secure a job before graduation.
“Our preceptorship during the final quarter set many students up for employment, allowing them to have job offers lined up after passing the NCLEX,” she said.
She initially planned to complete her Bachelor of Nursing at a university but opted for Olympic College due to its affordability and flexibility.
“Olympic College was the best fit for me—not only because it was a lot less expensive, but also because I could work full-time while attending school,” Yaley said.
With real-world training opportunities and strong connections to local healthcare employers, Olympic College continues to expand its impact.
OC partners with local healthcare providers, including St. Michael Medical Center, to provide hands-on training through clinicals and residencies for healthcare program students. The goal is for the student to train at the medical facility and then be able to secure employment there upon graduation.
“Olympic College continues to bring tremendous value to our community, helping to inspire and train future health care leaders,” said Chad Melton, President of St. Michael Medical Center.
“It has been an honor collaborating with the team over the years and we look forward to seeing this next chapter come to life with the new Poulsbo Campus,” Melton said. “The new campus represents opportunity and hope for today’s youth and students for generations to come.”
Currently OC’s healthcare division oversees 13 programs. However, the college’s two-phase plan will add 10 more.
In February, Olympic College began construction at its Poulsbo campus. As part of Phase One, the existing campus building will be remodeled to house the Radiologic Technology, Diagnostic Medical Sonography, and Surgical Technology programs.
These three programs will welcome their first cohorts in the fall, each admitting 20 students.
The existing library at the Poulsbo campus will be transformed into a state-of-the-art surgical training unit. The design will replicate a real surgical environment, featuring a pre-operative area, a surgery unit display board, and a sterile core with surgical sinks. The space will house four mock operating rooms where surgical technology students will train in real-world conditions.
The remodel will also include labs and classrooms for the radiology and sonography programs.
The first phase is fully funded at $10.5 million, with contributions from Kitsap County Commissioners ($6 million), Virginia Mason Franciscan Health ($2.5 million), and Olympic College ($2 million).
“We are grateful to our project partners the Kitsap County Commissioners and Virginia Mason Franciscan Health for their generous contributions to this project,” Cavalluzzi said.
“We are already seeing the benefits of this project with the launch of two new programs in 2024 – Corpsman/Medic to LPN and Phlebotomy which combined have already enrolled more than 20 new students,” he said. “And we are just getting started.”
“At Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, we are deeply committed to expanding access to high-quality health care and strengthening the workforce that supports our communities,” said Ketul J. Patel, Chief Executive Officer of Virginia Mason Franciscan Health and President of CommonSpirit Health’s Northwest Region.
“This partnership with Olympic College and Kitsap County is a transformative step in ensuring that future generations of healthcare professionals are trained right here in our region,” Patel said. “By investing in this state-of-the-art facility, we are not only addressing the current shortage of skilled workers but also laying the foundation for innovative, patient-centered care for years to come.”
Alecia Nye is the dean of nursing and allied health for Olympic College and has been deeply involved in the planning and implementation of the project.
OC is technically still in phase one of the plan but work has already begun on phase two. Nye has hired a developer for the dental hygiene program and the curriculum is mapped out. But phase two cannot fully proceed until the college has funding for the new building to house the programs, Nye said.
Phase two will include an 80,000-square-foot, five-story Health Sciences building on the Poulsbo campus. The new building will house a primary care clinic on the first floor. There will be classrooms, innovative learning spaces such as a multidisciplinary simulation and lab environments, and faculty, staff and administration office space.
Phase two programs include Dental Hygiene, Dental Assisting, Respiratory Therapy, and Paramedic and EMT training. Each program will admit 20 students.
The decision of what programs to add were based on community need. Nye surveyed community healthcare partners to determine what types of trained healthcare professionals were most needed to sustain the community and begin to address the crisis level shortage of healthcare workers.
Each program has accreditation requirements, which means it must meet the requirements set by a national accrediting board.
The dental hygiene program will be the heaviest lift to meet accrediting requirements, because it requires a dedicated physical space and oversight by a licensed dentist, Nye said.
However, the college will not have a dedicated space until the new building is completed on the Poulsbo campus.
“In the meantime, that’s not stopping us,” Nye said. “In reality, I know that building is not going to happen overnight. Nothing happens like that overnight. However, trying to find space is a possibility.”
Due to the pressing demand for dental hygienists in the region, the college has already developed the curriculum for the Dental Hygiene program and is seeking interim space at local dental offices until the new building is constructed.
Nye hopes to work with a dentist that has extra space in their practice where the dental hygiene program can set up a lab and ultimately help work on patients until the new building is ready for students.
Nye believes that there will be an outpouring of dentists who can and will want to offer space for the program.
Beyond Kitsap and Mason counties, Olympic College wants to help communities on the Olympic Peninsula. Nye has been in contact with Peninsula College in Port Angeles to figure out ways to help their students access medical programs the college does not have. It is a collaboration, not a competition, Nye said.
“My goal is to serve the whole peninsula, particularly those rural areas where students don’t have many options,” she said. “We’re looking at hybrid models so students can train close to home and stay in their communities after graduation.”
Despite funding challenges, Nye remains committed to expanding healthcare education in the region.
“People come here to change their lives,” she said. “We serve our community, in our community, by graduating students in healthcare fields that are in dire straits.”
“And so we’re gearing this, not only to students who are interested in healthcare pathways, but in the end of this, we also are using this to help support our clinical partners, because they’re going to be saturated with our students,” she said.
For Nye the why of pushing forward to support and grow medical program for the region comes down to two things.
“I was an Olympic College Student 35 years ago who started at this college with three little kids and trying to figure out a way to support my family,” she said. “And this college changed my life. The faculty here changed my life, the guidance I received here about my potential spearheaded me into a career that has been so important for me and my family.”
“I think of the potential students coming in and changing their lives and their family’s lives,” she said.
“The second part of that is, well, we’re in a health care crisis,” she said. “If COVID gave us anything, it gave us the fact that something’s going wrong, and we’re not prepared for it,” she said. “We already had a problem in healthcare, and it just escalated the obvious problems of burnout and shortages.”
“How do we keep up with the demand in healthcare? Having a pipeline of graduates to support our community clinical sites is instrumental,” she said. “That’s the why. It’s a win-win situation.”
“I think about myself and how this college changed my life, and then a career in healthcare and supporting my community in that role, you know, was so meaningful and purposeful in many different ways,” Nye said. “So I think that’s why we’re doing this, is to support that healthcare crisis in this county and surrounding counties.”
“We need community members to know that we’re here to serve this community long term with careers that are really sustainable and will change this community, the whole landscape in this community, I really think will be impacted positively by having these programs, Nye said.
Leave a Reply