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Cooke County Citizens for Better Government
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NCTC Nursing
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What problems does NCTC have with Nursing and Health Sciences. Which ones are real and which ones seem emphasized
to create a crisis in support of the bond? We believe the real problems and needs are: 1.
The building facilities are in need of a fix for the floors and perhaps some remodeling. 2. We
believe Health Sciences and Nursing need more space but if they didn't insist on it all being in one building, there appears
to be plenty of space and classrooms on the Gainesville Campus. 3. We believe Nursing and Health
Sciences could benefit from newer and more equipment. However there is the risk of high cost and rapid obsolescence
if they are not careful about what they purchase and try to go too far up the technology curve. In some cases, it might
be better to do training in the unused wing at NTMC or on second hand equipment where new equipment costs $100,000 or more,
or use simulation software and equipment. If commercial and air force pilots are trained and tested on simulators vs.
real air planes, it would seem that simulation equipment and/or software may be more cost effective, where available
and appropriate. In examining the documents we requested from NCTC,
we found no evidence that NCTC nursing is in jeopardy of losing it's accreditation due to facilities, or for that matter
outdated or lack of equipment. Please see the link below for the nursing accreditation letter we were given from
the National League for Nursing Accreditation Commission, Inc (NLNAC) which visited NCTC in 2010 and issued
a letter regarding NCTC Nursing accreditation on July 23, 2010. While the letter has a few
recommendations they call "Areas Needing Development by Accreditation Standard", there is no mention of facilities
or equipment issues.
National League for Nursing Accreditation Commission, Inc. letter of July 23, 2010 on NCTC Accreditation continued to Fall
2015
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We were surprised about the small number of Cooke County Graduates in
Nursing. According to an NCTC Facts Brochure we received from NCTC, revised 9-23-11, NCTC has graduated 162 RNs and
159 LVNs from Cooke County for a total of 321 nurses since 2000. If you divide that by 12, you get less than 27 a year.
You don't have to take our word for it. We'll provide the link to NCTC's Facts brochure below. As part of the justification for the bond, we believe Dr. Hadlock, NCTC President, has estimated they could increase
enrollment 30% in nursing. We've sent him a written request to confirm that on Tuesday, October 25th, but so far
no response. A 30% increase in graduations would yield an additional eight Cooke County nurses a year. All we
need to do to get that is pass the $30+ million NCTC bond. For a 30+ million bond which will cost more than $2
million a year in additional taxes, we can provide state of the art facilities to the less than 30 Cooke County nurses currently
graduation each year and maybe build that up to 35. That is under $1 million a nurse if you don't count interest.
On a yearly basis, we are talking a bond payment of a little under $62,000 per Cooke County nurse graduate. Isn't
that a bargain?
NCTC Facts at a Glance Brochure Revised 9-23-11
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We believe Nursing and Health Sciences are important for NCTC and our Community. However; it would appear that
if Cooke County has less that 30 Nursing graduates a year, maybe going to 35, a $30+ million bond needs more justification
as does a $12 million building financed by Cooke County Taxpayers. We haven't seen a Gainesville specific breakdown of
Nursing Graduates who come from outside Cooke County. We're glad they are getting an education as long as they don't
bump local students from getting in and pay their fair share of the facilities cost via higher tuition for Nursing and other
Health Sciences programs which cost more and result in better paying jobs. We found a report on
Nursing Graduates that seemed to be NCTC System Wide showing NCTC graduated 1,690 nurses since 2000, 1,004 LVNs, and 686 RNs.
It was dated early April 2011 so we're not sure if it counts 2011 graduates or not. It also shows NCTC has trained
66 Radiological Technicians, 174 EMTs and 138 Surgical Technicians since 2000. All told, that is another 378 Heatlh
Science graduates since 2000. You could divide by 11 and come up with 154 Nursing Graduates per year across all campuses
and a little more than 34 graduates in other Health Science fields. It may be a little less if that is for 12 years
but you also have to consider some of the non-nursing programs haven't been around for 11 or 12 years. Taking
the numbers as provided by NCTC, we are talking about 188 Health Science graduates system wide, per year. Since
LVN training is done on at least two other campuses and it is our understanding Surgical Technology is done in Corinth and
not Gainesville, if we estimate high, NCTC Gainesville may have 150 Health Science graduates a year. That's not
a lot for a new $12 Million Building built with borrowed money and paid for exclusively by Cooke County Taxpayers. That is
about 15 students per $1 million in facilities. To do that in Corinth, we might need a $350 million facility.
We believe all the RN training is on the Gainesville campus so Cooke County has less than
one in four RN graduates, 162/686. It is our understanding that NCTC offers LVN training on both the Bowie & Corinth
campuses and maybe others too. While it makes sense to improve the facilities for all the Nursing and Health Sciences
training on the Gainesville Campus, we're talking less than a couple hundred graduates a year which hardly justifies a
new $12 Million building. There are several lower cost alternatives. We believe Cooke County Taxpayers should
pay a maximum of 25% of the facilities upgrades considering it appears we have less than 25% of the students. NCTC should
strongly consider raising the tuition on Out-of-County Nursing and Health Sciences students to pay their fair share of the
facilities and equipment upgrades they will be using.
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Click below to see the chart on Heath Science Graduates. This came from a 30 chart deck Dr. Hadlock e-mailed on
April 20, 2011. As we said above, we're not sure if the Spring 2011 graduates or possibly other students trained
but not graduated are in these totals.
Link to NCTC Chart on Health Science students trained since 2000
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