March 7, 2011 -- Montgomery College President DeRionne Pollard and Holy Cross Hospital President and CEO Kevin Sexton proudly announced six grant recipients of the Holy Cross Hospital Fund at today’s groundbreaking ceremony for Montgomery College’s Bioscience Education Center. Through the generosity of Holy Cross Hospital, the fund—established with the Montgomery College Foundation—supports Montgomery College educational projects that assist students seeking future hospital-related careers. A joint Holy Cross Hospital and Montgomery College workgroup, with support of the institutions’ presidents, recommended that six proposals receive nearly $75,000 in funding for this fiscal year.
“Montgomery College students will benefit from the innovative programs and services made possible through the Holy Cross Hospital Fund,” said Dr. DeRionne Pollard, president of Montgomery College. “As a result, our students will be better prepared to fill future health care careers and contribute to the growth of Maryland’s economy.”
“Through the Holy Cross Hospital Fund, Holy Cross Hospital is investing in the education and training of tomorrow’s workforce,” said Kevin J. Sexton, president and CEO of Holy Cross Hospital. “Our new hospital on the Germantown Campus of Montgomery College will need skilled and compassionate workers to serve our patients in the fastest-growing and fastest-aging sector of Montgomery County.”
The Holy Cross Hospital Fund will support the following Montgomery College projects:
- (1) Expansion of hospital-related resources at the College’s libraries, which will include building a collection of print publications in nursing and allied health at the Germantown and Rockville campuses, and providing 24-hour access to more electronic resources;
- (2) Purchase of the “Wounded Willy” trauma mannequin for the health sciences programs, which will allow students to practice caring for critically injured patients and learn how to work in disaster situations;
- (3) Purchase of a PIXIE training mannequin for the radiologic technology program, which provides students with the opportunity to practice working in an energized lab or with a portable x-ray unit;
- (4) Creation of an internship program that will pay stipends for health sciences students to work at area nonprofits, which will support the work of nonprofits in their outreach to the community and will give students work experience;
- (5) hiring of a one-semester temporary employee who will supplement the academic support for health sciences students, which will help bridge the gap in academic readiness and necessary academic standards to prepare students for the rigorous health curriculum; and
- (6) Acquisition of molecular modeling software for use in science courses, which will support both health sciences and general science students.
Montgomery College and Holy Cross Hospital have had a long-standing partnership. For more than 25 years, nursing students have received clinical training experience at Holy Cross Hospital, and, in 2004, Holy Cross Hospital opened a health care clinic for uninsured and underinsured patients in the first floor of Montgomery College’s Health Sciences Center on the Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus. This past January, the Maryland Health Care Commission voted to approve a Certificate of Need for Holy Cross Hospital to build a new hospital within Montgomery College’s future Science and Technology Park on the Germantown Campus.
A hospital will greatly benefit students by serving as an educational resource for aspiring healthcare workers. Students will have the opportunity to observe and interact with a working hospital. Most importantly, students will have 64 total openings for clinical rotations at Holy Cross Hospital, which are critical to the College’s goal of doubling the number of nursing graduates to help address the severe nursing shortage in Maryland.
Since 2001, the College—at the request of the county and with the financial support from both the state and county—has planned its Science and Technology Park to replicate the success of the Shady Grove Life Sciences Center, anchored by Shady Grove Adventist. As the anchor tenant for Montgomery College’s Science and Technology Park, Holy Cross Hospital will attract other medical, bioscience, and technology companies to the park, providing learning experiences for students and much-needed jobs for the community.
For more information about the Holy Cross Hospital Fund, established with the Montgomery College Foundation, contact David Sears, executive director of the foundation and vice president of advancement, at 240-567-7490.
Montgomery College is a public, open admissions community college with campuses in Germantown, Rockville, and Takoma Park/Silver Spring, plus workforce development/continuing education centers and off-site programs throughout Montgomery County, Md. The College serves nearly 60,000 students a year, through both credit and noncredit programs, in more than 100 areas of study.
