Executives from local major health care organizations have signed a letter supporting the need to have Lone Star College keep up with the unprecedented growth it is experiencing in its service area through the $485 million bond referendum on the November ballot.
The hospital executives cite the serious shortage of nurses and health care workers at a time when the baby boom population is reaching Medicare age and the demand for health care services is rising. The letter of support also pointed out that the health care workforce is aging, with the average age of a registered nurse being 45 years old.
The letter reads that approval of the $485 million bond referendum “… does not increase the tax rate and enables Lone Star College to train more nurses, firefighters, EMTs and other health care professionals to meet the future needs of our communities.”
The letter is signed by top executives from CHI St. Luke’s – The Vintage Hospital, Conroe Regional Medical Center, Cypress Fairbanks Medical Center, Houston Northwest Medical Center, Kingwood Medical Center, Memorial Hermann Northeast and The Woodlands Hospitals, and Houston Methodist Willowbrook Hospital.
“The need to train health care workers continues to be a critical priority for our industry,” said Juan Fresquez, Houston Northwest Medical Center chief operating officer. “Lone Star College does a great job in producing trained personal for all the hospitals in the region and we will continue to count on them as our area keeps growing.”
Community colleges like LSC train 60 percent of all health care workers and 84 percent of all emergency first responders including firefighters, police officers and emergency medical technicians.
Click here to view the letter of support.
LSC is asking voters to decide on a $485 million bond which will be used to build more learning space to accommodate the extraordinary growth being seen in the LSC service area. The bond plan also calls for funding the construction of a new health care instructional building and much needed renovation to current health care education facilities to help address the need to fill the in demand health care jobs.
Community colleges like Lone Star College train 60 percent of
all health care workers. The bond plan calls for funding
the construction of a new health care instructional building
and much needed renovation to current health care education facilities.
all health care workers. The bond plan calls for funding
the construction of a new health care instructional building
and much needed renovation to current health care education facilities.
Lone Star College has been opening doors to a better community for more than 40 years. Founded in 1973, LSC remains steadfast in its commitment to student success and credential completion. Today, with almost 83,000 students in credit classes, and a total enrollment of more than 95,000, Lone Star College is the largest institution of higher education in the Houston area and one of the fastest-growing community colleges in the nation. Stephen C. Head, Ph.D., is the chancellor of LSC, which consists of six colleges including LSC-CyFair, LSC-Kingwood, LSC-Montgomery, LSC-North Harris, LSC-Tomball and LSC-University Park, seven centers, LSC-University Center at Montgomery, LSC-University Center at University Park, Lone Star Corporate College, and LSC-Online.
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