Fort Walton Beach Medical Center Paves Way With Classrooms,
Equipment For New Nursing Program

September 7, 2000

In an unprecedented agreement, the Fort Walton Beach Medical Center and Okaloosa- Walton Community College have begun a joint venture that will turn the medical center into a teaching hospital with the college's new registered nursing program scheduled to be based at the hospital starting in 2001.

Wayne Campbell, CEO of Fort Walton Beach Medical Center and a prime mover to begin the nursing program at OWCC, said that in addition to providing classrooms and donating the hospital's own personnel as nursing instructors, the medical center will contribute an in-kind gift of equipment for the nursing program valued in excess of $200,000.

"All told, the medical center will have donated more than a half a million dollars to the college's nursing program," said Dr. Bob Richburg, OWCC president, who credited Campbell with developing the concept of basing the nursing program at the medical center and using its nursing staff to teach courses as part of their regular work schedule.

"We are truly overwhelmed by this contribution and what it will mean for students in our nursing program," said Richburg. "We are even more humbled by the gift of equipment and supplies because health related instructional programs are cost-intensive to begin."

"Wayne Campbell is really committed to our nursing program like nobody else, except for probably our director of nursing Linda Whitenton. It was Wayne who challenged us two years ago to begin a nursing program and said he would find financial backing," said Richburg, noting that in addition to the latest contribution, Fort Walton Beach Medical Center and Twin Cities Hospital had contributed $150,000 to kick-off the Health Technology Endowment Campaign.

According to Campbell, the medical center recognized the college needed a place to house the nursing program until the new library on the Niceville campus is constructed and renovations are completed on the current library building which will become the health science center.

"What a better place for nurses to start than in our hospital," said Campbell, who has turned over three classrooms and a patient room for the college to occupy. "This is sort of like going back in time when nursing programs were in hospitals. So, using our nursing staff as instructors is a natural. Our people are just eager to make this program happen. We must get students trained to meet the shortage of nurses in our area."

Campbell said that after talking with college staff, the idea of contributing the equipment, including everything from patient beds to blood pressure monitors, will let the college devote its funds to the instructional and support materials of the nursing program.

"It takes a lot of money to get health programs approved by the Board of Nursing," said Campbell, who serves on the college's Health Technology Advisory Committee. "I know that the savings O-W realizes on equipment can be used to buy things like $30,000 worth of research books and periodicals for the library which are required for accreditation of the nursing program."

Richburg described the medical center contribution as "unprecedented by any business, which has collaborated with the college." In addition, he said Fort Walton Beach Medical Center will be the site for a majority of the clinical rotations by students in the first year of the program. Richburg said other hospitals have agreed to be clinical rotation sites and the program will use them in forthcoming years.

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