Coffee Regional Medical Center President and CEO Vicki Lewis announced at a ceremony Thursday that the hospital is committing $300,000 payable over the next four years to the Wiregrass Tech Foundation North. The pledge will support costs for the new Associate of Science in Nursing (RN) for the Wiregrass Georgia Technical College on the Coffee Campus.
“Assuring we have the number of talented and well-trained RN’s needed to care for our patients is challenging and a central part of our work at Coffee Regional. We are pleased to partner with Wiregrass to bring the ASN program to Douglas. We are confident this expansion will benefit students and our patients and will help to assure we fulfill our mission of exceptional care and wellness close to home,” stated Vicki Lewis.
Wiregrass will be expanding the current RN program housed on the Valdosta Campus to the Coffee Campus to start Fall 2023, pending Georgia Board of Nursing (GBON) and Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN) approval. “Wiregrass is very proud of the RN program and excited to be able to bring it to the Coffee Campus,” shared Wiregrass President DeAnnia Clements. “This is made possible because of CRMC’s investment in our program, college, and students.” Wiregrass started the RN program on the Valdosta Campus in January 2014. The program has consistently been recognized as the number one program in the state. In June, NursingProcess.org announced the program ranked number one in the state of Georgia for 2022.
The Associate of Science in Nursing program will begin accepting new students in Fall 2023.