
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, November 5, 1994                   TAG: 9411070045
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LISA APPLEGATE
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

HOSPITAL'S COLLEGE RECEIVES $1.7 MILLION

A $1.7million grant awarded to Community Hospital's College of Health Sciences by the U.S. Department of Education will boost the nursing program to a four-year, baccalaureate course of study.

College President Harry Nickens, who announced the grant Friday, said the money will strengthen programs that are desperately needed in Virginia.

Of the registered nurses in the state, only one-fourth earned a bachelor of science in nursing degree. The other 75 percent received a two-year associate degree or three-year diplomas from hospital-based programs.

The college, which has an enrollment of about 500, plans to offer registered nurses the chance to take evening and weekend classes to complete the bachelor's degree.

The college also will offer the only physician's assistant degree in Virginia.

"A PA is like a dental hygienist for medical doctors. They'll be able to handle about 75 percent of primary-care patient needs," allowing doctors to spend more time on serious illnesses, Nickens said.

The grant also will be used to purchase research equipment for the science lab. Students will experiment with chemicals and examine human anatomy through a computer. And human cadaver dissection will be available for the first time.

by CNB