Local college looking to help out closing nursing school

SHARON, Pa. (WKBN) —  As Steward Health works through bankruptcy , one of the casualties will be the School of Nursing at Sharon Regional Medical Center . Its next class, scheduled to begin in January, has been canceled.

“The first thing that we did was look at our resources and what we had available to us. What tools in our toolbox did we have?” Thiel College Board of Trustees Chair Rod Wilt said.

Thiel added a bachelor’s degree program in nursing four years ago; its very first cohort of students will be graduating in December, but that still leaves dozens more in the program.

While nursing students take their classroom work on campus, underclassmen were completing their clinical training at Sharon Regional. Within days of the announcement this month, administrators managed to reach an agreement with Meadville Medical Center in Crawford County, which is about the same distance from campus that Sharon is, allowing students to pick up their training just in a different venue.

“We’ve stepped forward, and we’re committed to nursing education. We know the region needs high-quality nursing,” Thiel College President Susan Traverso said.

Wilt said he thinks the first year is going to be “a little clunky.”

“But I think after that it’s going to be a nice smooth transition for our students, the faculty and everybody involved,” Wilt said.

While that’s happened, community leaders have been working to piece together a plan that could ultimately keep the doors at Sharon Regional open and bring in a new provider of services.

“I’ve been involved in some major meetings the last couple of days,” Wilt said. “Nothing to announce other than we’re making progress… significant progress.”

But Wilt stresses the clock is ticking with another hearing in Bankruptcy Court late next week.

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