COMMUNITY CARE 5 HOSPITALS TEAM
TOGETHER TO START RADIOLOGIC TECH PROGRAM
Anne Shelley, center, executive director of Community
Care 5, holds the Community Service Award plaque received
from BGSU-Firelands, recently awarded to CC5 for helping to
begin the Radiology Technology Program at the college.
Flanking Shelley are two students of the current Radiology
Technology Program class, Derrick Grohe and Ginger Guimmo,
both of Sandusky.
Five area hospitals are supporting a new education
program that will train students to enter the radiological
technology field.
The Radiologic Technology Program at the BGSU-Firelands
Campus was recently created with funds donated from the
Community Care 5 (CC5) hospitals – The Bellevue Hospital,
Firelands Regional Medical Center (Sandusky), Fisher-Titus
Medical Center (Norwalk), Magruder Hospital (Port Clinton),
and Memorial Healthcare Systems (Fremont).
“The radiologic technology program was previously offered at
Firelands Regional Medical Center,” explained Anne Shelley,
MBA, BSN, RN, executive director of the CC5. “The CEOs of
the five area hospitals got together and decided that moving
the program from a hospital-based setting to an
academic-based setting would allow students to earn their
two-year Associate of Applied Sciences degree while at the
same time rotate to the five area hospitals for training in
hopes of being able to retain these students as employees.”
The start-up program has been so successful that
BGSU-Firelands recently awarded CC5 the BGSU-Firelands
Community Service Award at the college’s 35th annual
recognition program. The CC5 hospitals collectively donated
$113,765 to help start and fund the new program.
The program is being developed in response to the growing
need for trained radiologic technologists. The program
prepares students as radiographers through academic courses
and clinical education experiences. Radiologic technologists
include those who take X-rays and administer non-radioactive
materials into patient’s bloodstreams for diagnostic
purposes, computerized tomography (CT) technologists, and
magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technologists.
Two students currently enrolled in the radiologic technology
program – Ginger Guimmo, Sandusky, and Derrick Grohe,
Sandusky – recently met with CC5 marketing department
representatives to talk about their experience so far.
“I have an associates degree in Health Information
Technology, so I am working on my second medical degree,”
said Guimmo. “I had another job unrelated to the medical
field and I felt that I just needed a change, so I found out
about this program, applied, and was accepted for the first
class of students. I was so excited. So far, the experience
has been better than I anticipated.”
Grohe noted that he always had planned a career in the
medical field, but was not sure which career path to follow.
“I read about the radiologic technology program in the
newspapers and decided this is what I wanted to do. I will
get my associates degree in Radiological Technology in the
spring of 2006, and plan on continuing for another two years
of college to earn my bachelor’s degree.”
Both Guimmo and Grohe have already rotated in with a couple
of the CC5 hospitals, getting valuable hands-on training and
experience.
“The new two-year program, which began with the Fall, 2004
course offerings at BGSU-Firelands, also allows the student
the option of pursuing a bachelor’s degree,” continued
Shelley. “ Those interested in the program apply directly
through BGSU-Firelands and I am told there is already a
waiting list for the next course.”
The Occupational Outlook Handbook indicates that employment
of radiologic technologists is expected to “grow faster than
average” over the next six years. The Bureau of Labor
Statistics ranks radiologic technologists 10th among jobs
requiring the associate degree in terms of total job
openings due to growth and total replacement needs.
For additional information on the radiologic technology
program at BGSU-Firelands, contact Francine Todd, interim
director of the program, at (419) 433-5560, Ext. 20666.
